Karl Malone had 28 points and 10 rebounds as the Utah Jazz won their eighth straight Sunday with a 96-86 victory over the Miami Heat and set a club record for road wins.
John Stockton had 15 points and 12 assists for the Jazz, who won its 21st road game. Glen Rice paced Miami with 25 points, and Kevin Willis had 12 points and 15 rebounds.After trailing by 21 in the third period, Miami opened the final quarter with a 13-0 run to cut Utah's lead to 77-72 with 7:55 to play.
John Stockton's layup at the 6:10 mark were the first points of the period for the Jazz. On Miami's next possession, he stole the ball from Harold Miner and hit another layup to make it 81-72 with 5:45 remaining.
Baskets by Malone and Jeff Hornacek extended the lead to 88-77 at the 2:54 mark, and the Jazz went on to improve their road record against Eastern Conference teams to 10-0.
The Heat played without starting guard Billy Owens, who strained his right knee in his team's 104-95 loss in Charlotte the previous night.
Utah's 46-16 mark is the team's best record ever after 62 games.
The Jazz shot 53 percent from the field, holding Miami to 36 percent, and made 17 of 18 free throws.
David Benoit had 10 points in the first period as Utah took a 26-20 lead.
The Jazz built their advantage to 49-38 at halftime behind 11 second-quarter points by Tom Chambers.
Malone hit two free throws, a three-point play and a layup to put Utah ahead 68-49 with 5:28 left in the third quarter. Stockton hit two free throws 32 seconds later to give the Jazz their biggest lead of the game, 70-49.
The Jazz are 39-1 when holding their opponents under 100 points. When scoring under 100 themselves, they have a 12-4 mark.
In other action around the NBA:
Orlando 110, San Antonio 104
At Orlando, Fla., Shaquille O'Neal struggled much of the fourth quarter before delivering a dunk and two free throws in the final minute to help the Orlando Magic hold off the San Antonio Spurs 110-104 Sunday for his first victory over nemesis David Robinson.
The Spurs were the only team the Magic hadn't beaten since O'Neal entered the NBA three seasons ago. Robinson holds the statistical edge in the six meetings between the All-Star centers, and had 34 points and 12 rebounds to O'Neal's 28 points and 13 rebounds in the latest matchup.
Anfernee Hardaway led Orlando with 31 points, 20 of them in the second half. Nick Anderson scored 13 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter when the Magic pulled away from a 90-90 tie in the last 5:52.
O'Neal was only 10-for-24 from the field and had been outscored 14-2 by Robinson in the final period before slamming in an offensive rebound for a 104-99 lead and hitting two free throws that made it 106-100 with 36.7 seconds remaining.
Robinson finished 12-of-21 and got offensive support from Sean Elliott, who had 20 points for San Antonio. Dennis Rodman had 11 points and 23 rebounds, while Avery Johnson contributed 18 points before going scoreless in the last quarter.
Trail Blazers 102, Timberwolves 88
At Minneapolis, Buck Williams and Otis Thorpe, sharing time at power forward, combined for 39 points and 18 rebounds for Portland.
Williams had 19 points and 12 rebounds and Thorpe added 20 points and six boards as the Blazers maintained their perfect record (12-0) in Minnesota.
Christian Laettner had 21 points and Tom Gugliotta added 17 for the Wolves. Dehydration from a stomach illness limited Isaiah Rider, Minnesota's leading scorer, to just 10 minutes and 3 points.
The Blazers, who led throughout the game, wrapped up their six-game, nine-day road trip by winning three of the last four games.
The victory improved the Trail Blazers to 21-2 lifetime against the Wolves.
Hawks 104, Celtics 98
At Boston, Ken Norman scored 13 of his season-high 34 points in the fourth period, and Atlanta Hawks went over the .500 mark for the first time this season.
The Hawks trailed almost throughout before earning their seventh victory in the last nine starts. Boston lost its fourth straight game.
Trailing 87-84 with five minutes remaining, the Hawks went on a 9-0 run, pulling ahead to stay.
Andrew Lang had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Hawks. Mookie Blaylock had eight assists, moving to within two of 1,000 for his career.
Sherman Douglas led the Celtics with 23 points. Dino Rajda had 20 points and 14 rebounds. Xavier McDaniel added 21 points.
Cavaliers 92, 76ers 72
At Philadelphia, Terrell Brandon, Chris Mills and Danny Ferry scored 14 points apiece as Cleveland won for the eighth straight time at the Spectrum.
It also was the Cavaliers' 16th victory in 17 games against the Sixers. Cleveland's last loss in Philadelphia was on March 31, 1991.
Sharone Wright had 13 points to lead Philadelphia, which lost its fourth straight and 12th in its last 15. Philadelphia is now 8-22 at home and 9-22 on the road.
Cleveland led 19-10 at the end of the first quarter, holding Philadelphia to its lowest first-quarter total of the season.
Nuggets 109, Bucks 93
At Milwaukee, Rodney Rogers scored 21 points as Denver swept the two-game series with Milwaukee for the second straight season and only the fourth time in 19 seasons.
Reggie Williams has 19 points, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf 18, Jalen Rose 17, Dikembe Mutombo 13 and Dale Ellis 10. Mutombo also pulled down 13 rebounds as the Nuggets won for the fifth time in eight games on the road.
Vin Baker led the Bucks with 21 points. Eric Murdock had 18 points and Todd Day 16.