Even though he's matched Red Auerbach's record for coaching victories, Lenny Wilkens knows it's no time to relax.
Still ahead is a chance to break the mark and do it in a place that holds a lot of memories. Wilkens got career win No. 938 Thursday night when his Atlanta Hawks beat the San Antonio Spurs 127-121 in overtime.Tonight, he can pass Auerbach with No. 939 at Cleveland, where Wilkens coached for seven seasons.
"If the record came tomorrow night in Cleveland, it would be very special to me because of the time I spent there," Wilkens said.
Helping Wilkens catch Auerbach hasn't been easy for the Hawks, who needed 28 games to get the 12 victories their coach needed.
"It's definitely a great evening," said guard Steve Smith, who came off the bench to score 28 points in the milestone victory. "Just to get it off his back is something we're all trying to do."
In other games, it was Miami 126, the Los Angeles Clippers 83; Charlotte 125, Orlando 123; Houston 126, Golden State 124; Portland 104, Denver 93; and the Los Angeles Lakers 96, Seattle 95.
The victory gave Wilkens a career record of 938-790. Auerbach had a 938-479 record in 20 seasons, 16 of those in Boston, where he built the Celtics into a dynasty and won nine league championships.
Looking to extend their seven-game winning streak, the Spurs nearly deprived Wilkens of the tying win.
Three consecutive 3-pointers by Chuck Person, who finished with 26 points, in the final 90 seconds of the third quarter lifted the Spurs into an 83-76 lead. But Atlanta fought back, trimming its deficit to 95-90 on a 3-pointer by Mookie Blaylock with 5:34 to play.
A 20-footer by Ken Norman, who led Atlanta with 32 points, with 41 seconds left sent the game to overtime at 108.
In overtime, baskets by Blaylock, Jon Koncak and Tyrone Corbin gave the Hawks a 114-108 lead, one the Hawks never lost.
Heat 126, Clippers 83
Miami got its biggest win in franchise history, beating Los Angeles by 43 points behind 35 from Glen Rice.
It was the eighth game this season that Rice has scored 30 or more points. Kevin Willis had 19 points and Brad Lohaus and Kevin Gamble 18 each for the Heat. The visiting Clippers were led by Harold Ellis with 11.
Los Angeles shot 41 percent to Miami's season-best 61 percent. The Heat connected on 14 3-pointers to the Clippers' two.
Hornets 125, Magic 123
Without center Alonzo Mourning in the lineup, Charlotte turned to its perimeter shooting, hitting a club record 14 3-pointers to beat Orlando.
Dell Curry had 28 points and made six 3-pointers to lead Charlotte, which was missing Mourning because of a strained right foot.
Scott Burrell had a career-high 25 points, while Larry Johnson and Hersey Hawkins each had 23. Muggsy Bogues added 18 points and a season-high 17 assists with only one turnover.
Shaquille O'Neal's 30 points led the visiting Magic, who got 24 from Anfernee Hardaway.
Houston 126, Golden State 124
Vernon Maxwell saved the ball from going out of bounds and hit a 28-footer with 1.9 seconds left as Houston beat Golden State.
Hakeem Olajuwon had 42 points and eight rebounds as the Rockets held off a furious fourth-quarter rally by the visiting Warriors.
Tim Hardaway, who had 32 points, hit a jumper with three seconds to play to give the Warriors a 124-123 lead. Houston tried to get it to Olajuwon on the ensuing inbounds play, but failed. The ball was headed out-of-bounds on the sideline until Maxwell grabbed it and hit the game-winner.
Trail Blazers 104, Nuggets 93
Portland defeated Denver for the ninth straight time at home, getting 27 points from Clifford Robinson.
Clyde Drexler scored 19 points and Rod Strickland had 16 points and 10 assists for Portland.
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf came off the bench to lead the Nuggets with 18 points, and Reggie Williams added 15.
Abdul-Rauf's 18-footer cut Portland's lead to 80-78 with 9:52 left, but the Trail Blazers came back to take a 98-87 lead with 2:57 remaining.
Lakers 96, SuperSonics 95
Cedric Ceballos scored 35 points as Los Angeles ended a six-game losing streak against shorthanded Seattle.
Elden Campbell scored 11 of his season-high 28 points in the fourth quarter and blocked six shots for Los Angeles. Detlef Schrempf scored 26 points and Shawn Kemp had 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Sonics, who played without supended forward Vincent Askew and lost guard Nate McMillan when he got two technical fouls.
Playing before their first home sellout crowd of the season, the Lakers beat the Sonics for only the third time in 16 meetings.