David Robinson had 40 points and 16 rebounds, taking advantage of foul-plagued Hakeem Olajuwon as the San Antonio Spurs beat the Houston Rockets 109-98 Saturday night.
The victory, the first for the Spurs in Houston since 1991, lifted San Antonio back into first place in the NBA Midwest Division. The Rockets lost for the fourth time in seven games, including twice in a week to the Spurs.Despite his foul trouble Olajuwon had 27 points and 18 rebounds.
Negele Knight had a season-high 23 points for the Spurs, including eight points down the stretch to help San Antonio pull away after Houston took an 85-84 lead with 6:15 to go. The Spurs outscored the Rockets 25-13 in the final six minutes, shooting 73 percent in the fourth quarter.
The Rockets played the last 3:18 of the first half without Olajuwon, who picked up his third foul. With 6:43 to go in the third period, he got his fourth foul and went to the bench. He played the last 7:44 with five fouls.
Vernon Maxwell added 23 points for the Rockets.
The Spurs' Dennis Rodman, the NBA's leading rebounder, did not play. Rodman, ejected from his previous two games, missed the flight from San Antonio to Houston and did not arrive at the Summit Arena until about 20 minutes before the game.
He spent much of the game seated on the floor near the bench and tried to get the attention of coach John Lucas in the third period by holding up a towel on which he had scribbled with a marker in big letters: "I'm sorry. Can I play! Please."
Knicks 95, Cavaliers 86
At New York, the Knicks held their opponent below 90 points for a team-record sixth straight game, beating the injury-hampered Cleveland Cavaliers.
Patrick Ewing led the Knicks with 29 points, benefiting from the absence of Cleveland's Brad Daugherty, out for the next month with herniated disk. It was Ewing's eighth straight game with at least 20 points.
The Cavaliers also were without Mark Price who sat out with leg and back injuries.
Bulls 111, Kings 94
At Chicago, Scottie Pippen scored 20 points, and the Chicago Bulls used a 15-4 run starting the fourth quarter to beat Sacramento Kings.
Toni Kukoc and Scott Williams each added 17 points for Chicago, 22-8 at home this season., and B.J. Armstrong scored 16.
Hawks 104, Pistons 92
At Auburn Hills, Mich., Danny Manning scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half as the Atlanta Hawks beat Detroit, preventing the Pistons from winning three straight for the first time since Nov. 17-21.
Detroit led 49-48 at halftime, and Joe Dumars helped the Pistons take a 61-53 lead early in the third quarter.
Manning led the Hawks in scoring, while Kevin Willis finished with 19 points and 18 rebounds after a big first quarter.
Nets 117, Hornets 92
At East Rutherford, N.J., Derrick Coleman scored 20 as he showed up Larry Johnson in the battle of the NBA's highest-paid players.
Johnson, who just returned to the Hornets' lineup Friday night after missing 31 games with a back injury, had just 8 points in 16 minutes in the first half. With Charlotte trailing 56-43 at intermission, Johnson didn't return for the second half.
Pacers 104, Bucks 97
At Indianapolis, Reggie Miller scored 23 points and became only the fourth player in NBA history to record 800 3-pointers.
Miller got his 800th 3-point goal with 3:19 to play, giving the Pacers a 97-85 lead.
Derrick McKey scored 24 points for the Pacers. Eric Murdock scored 26 points for the Bucks.