Hakeem Olajuwon was overwhelmed by David Robinson and Dennis Rodman as the San Antonio Spurs continued their dominance over the NBA champion Houston Rockets.
Robinson had 31 points and 11 rebounds and Rodman had 27 rebounds as San Antonio routed Houston 124-103 on Sunday for its third straight victory over the Rockets and fifth in six games. Olajuwon had 25 points and six rebounds."Last year, he was the MVP and they were the better team," said Robinson, who finished second behind Olajuwon in the voting. "I had a point to prove and this team had a point to prove. We're becoming the team we want to be."
Houston dropped its fourth straight game, after earlier losses to Dallas, Orlando and Minnesota in the last week. The Rockets are 6-6 since the Clyde Drexler trade Feb. 14, including six losses in their last nine games.
"It's difficult to turn it around when you start losing," Olajuwon said. "You're not playing with confidence. We need to regroup at home and win the first one. I'm still very confident. I still like this team even though we're losing now."
San Antonio won its eighth straight game, its 17th in 19 games and is 32-7 since Rodman returned Dec. 10. The Spurs, who trail Utah by 11/2 games in the Midwest Division, are 12-0 when Robinson scores 30 or more points.
"We're playing good, solid basketball, better than we did earlier in the season," Robinson said. "We expect to play like this. We have a lot of confidence in how we can play."
The Spurs took advantage of injuries to Houston starting forwards Robert Horry and Carl Herrera to outrebound the Rockets 53-32.
"Right now, we're taking our lumps, but it will be good to have everybody back," Drexler said. "We have as good a chance as anybody."
Rodman had 20 rebounds for the seventh straight game and 14th in his last 20.
"I'm going to have to get on Dennis, because he's grabbing some of my rebounds," Robinson said. "Today I got 11, so I started getting some of my share. But when I was getting six or seven, he was getting mine."
Sam Cassell's 3-point shot brought Houston within 101-90 with 7:01 left, but San Antonio then ran off the next 5 points on Sean Elliott's 3-pointer and Robinson's dunk to seal the victory.
"We started shooting too many jumpers and our transition defense was terrible," Spurs point guard Avery Johnson said. "We wanted to get back in the game."
Drexler had 22 points and a team-high eight rebounds and Pete Chilcutt added 11 points. The Rockets hit 12 of 27 3-point shots.
Phoenix 122, Golden State 112
At Oakland, Calif., Charles Barkely scored 31 points and Kevin Johnson had 20 of his 22 in the second half Sunday as the Suns handed the Warriors to their sixth straight loss.
Donyell Marshall had 29 points and 11 rebounds and Tim Hardaway added 25 points, but it wasn't enough to reverse Golden State's tailspin. Hardaway made six 3-pointers, increasing his season total to 142 to surpass by one the team mark Latrell Sprewell established last year.
Pacific-division leading Phoenix, up by a point heading into the fourth period, lost the lead 93-91 when Sprewell hit a 3-pointer with 10:42 remaining.
Heat 103, Bullets 90
At Miami, Ledell Eackles scored 17 points as Miami's bench outscored the Washington bench 41-18. Miami's victory kept the Bullets from their first three-game winning streak of the season.
Miami's Glen Rice, Billy Owens, and Matt Geiger scored 16 points apiece, while Juwan Howard and Chris Webber combined to score 46 of Washington's 90 points. Webber scored 21 points, several coming on thunderous dunks, and Howard added 25, his 40th consecutive game in double figures.
Nets 99, Bucks 94
At East Rutherford, N.J., Kenny Anderson had 22 points and 12 assists, and combined with Derrick Coleman to score all but three of New Jersey's fourth-quarter points as the Nets snapped a three-game losing streak.
Coleman finished with 21 points.
In the final two minutes, both Coleman and Chris Morris hit three free throws to wrap up the victory.
Glenn Robinson scored 21 points to lead Milwaukee, which has dropped five of its last six games.
Magic 113, Hawks 111, OT
AT Orlando, Fla., Dennis Scott's 3-pointer with less than a second remaining in overtime boosted Orlando to victory. Scott's sixth 3-pointer of the game erased a one-point Hawks lead.
Shaquille O'Neal scored 30 points for the Magic, which went the final 4:56 of regulation and first 3:45 of overtime without a field goal. Anfernee Hardaway forced the extra period with two free throws and finished with 23 points, while Nick Anderson had 21 points and Scott 20.
Atlanta was led by Steve Smith with 23 points, and Grant Long and Stacey Augmon with 20 each.