Sean Elliott's 15-foot jumper with 2.9 seconds left boosted the San Antonio Spurs to their sixth straight win, 98-96 over the Houston Rockets on Friday night.
Elliott's shot was set up after Vernon Maxwell was called for traveling. Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich was assessed a technical foul for disputing the call, but Vinnie Del Negro missed the technical before Elliott's game-winner.David Robinson preserved San Antonio's victory by blocking Hakeem Olajuwon's shots on the final two plays of the game. Robinson first blocked a 10-foot jumper and then swatted away another shot after a Houston inbounds play.
Del Negro, who scored 17 of his team-high 26 points in the fourth quarter, tied the game at 94-94 on a baseline jumper with 1:59 left.
Elliott scored 19 points, Robinson had 18 and 10 rebounds and Avery Johnson added 17 points and 11 assists. Maxwell paced Houston with a season-high 27 points, while Olajuwon added 19 points and 10 rebounds and Thorpe 16 points and 13 rebounds.
The Rockets dropped their third game in their last four contests. Friday's game was played before an Alamodome crowd of 31,514, largest in the NBA this season.
Bullets 105, Clippers 102
At Los Angeles, Mitchell Butler scored eight of his 22 points during a 12-0 run in the final 21/2 minutes of the third quarter, giving Washington a 17-point lead en route to a victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, snapping the Bullets' 8-game losing streak.
Lakers 100, Kings 89
At Inglewood, Calif., Eddie Jones scored 14 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter and Vlade Divac blocked a career-high eight shots to power the Los Angeles Lakers to a victory over the Sacramento Kings.
Cedric Ceballos, who last Tuesday became the seventh player in Lakers history to score 50 points in a game, added 21 points as Los Angeles won for the 12th time in 15 games.
Blazers 118, Mavericks 92
At Portland, Ore., Clifford Robinson had a season-high 31 points, 19 in the first half, and the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Dallas Mavericks.
Clyde Drexler added 18 and Rod Strickland had 13 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds.
Magic 123, Bucks 91
At Orlando, Fla., Shaquille O'Neal scored 32 points and Orlando held Milwaukee to two field goals in the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter to break open a close game and beat the Bucks.
Nick Anderson had 27 points for the Magic, which played without Anfernee Hardaway, who missed a game for the first time as a pro because of a sore hamstring.
Cavaliers 80, Nets 75
At Cleveland, the Cleveland Cavaliers, relying again on their furious double-teaming defense, won their eighth straight game, beating the New Jersey Nets behind 18 points and 19 rebounds from Tyrone Hill.
New Jersey played without injured Derrick Coleman for the third consecutive game. Coleman needed 12 stitches after cutting his hand on the rim in a game against Miami on Sunday.
76ers 85, Celtics 77
At Boston, Dana Barros had a career-high 34 points as the Philadelphia 76ers broke a five-game losing streak with a win over the poor-shooting Boston Celtics.
The 76ers misfired throughout the first half but hit their shots down the stretch.
Hawks 97, Pistons 77
At Auburn Hills, Mich., Mookie Blaylock had 18 points and eight assists Friday night to lead the Atlanta Hawks to a 97-77 rout of the Detroit Pistons, leaving Lenny Wilkens one win shy of Red Auerbach's coaching victories record.
The win was the 937th of the Atlanta coach's career. He can tie the NBA record with a victory Tuesday at Houston.
Heat 116, Hornets 93
At Miami, Glen Rice scored 37 points and Ledell Eackles sparked the Heat's injury-depleted backcourt as Miami beat the Charlotte Hornets 116-93 Friday night.
It was the second big night in a row for Rice, who had 30 in Miami's 122-112 double-overtime win over Milwaukee on Wednesday.
Bulls 116, Pacers 92
At Chicago, Toni Kukoc scored 17 of his 27 points in the second quarter as the Bulls pulled away to snap a three-game losing streak with a 116-92 victory over the Indiana Pacers.
Suns 126, Nuggets 110
At Phoenix, Danny Manning scored 7 points in 52 seconds of the fourth quarter, giving the Phoenix Suns an insurmountable 21-point lead with 4:18 remaining in a victory over the Denver Nuggets.
Manning, who had 10 of his 18 points in the final period, took over with the Suns leading 110-96.
Wayman Tisdale, another surprise starter who replaced Joe Kleine at center, scored 17 points for the Suns, and A.C. Green had 16.