Dikembe Mutombo had 16 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks as the unbeaten Atlanta Hawks held off the Chicago Bulls 80-78 on Friday night before 45,790 fans, the fifth-largest crowd in NBA history.
Mookie Blaylock had 17 points, and Steve Smith and Tyrone Corbin added 15 each for the Hawks, 5-0 to match their best start since moving to Atlanta in 1968. Michael Jordan led the Bulls with 27 points.The turnout was the largest for an NBA game since 49,551 watched Denver at Minnesota on April 17, 1990, when the Timberwolves played at the Metrodome. Atlanta is playing most of its home games in the Georgia Dome while a downtown arena is under construction next door.
Nets 99, Heat 87
At East Rutherford, N.J., Chris Gatling had 24 points and 12 rebounds as New Jersey beat Miami to reach 4-0 for the first time in the NBA.
Kendall Gill added 19 points for the Nets, Jayson Williams had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Sam Cassell 18 points and 13 assists. Isaac Austin led Miami with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
SuperSonics 99, Pacers 93
At Indianapolis, Gary Payton stole an inbounds pass and made a tiebreaking layup with 23.4 seconds left, lifting Seattle past Indiana.
Payton led Seattle with 24 points, while Vin Baker added 17 points and 11 rebounds. Detlef Schrempf had 16 points. Reggie Miller led the Pacers with 22 points, and Rik Smits added 20.
Cavaliers 96, Celtics 92
At Boston, Wesley Person scored nine of his 26 points in the last 2:03 as Cleveland rallied to beat Boston.
Shawn Kemp led the Cavaliers with 28 points and 15 rebounds, and Derek Anderson added 17 points. Antoine Walker had 22 points and 11 rebounds for Boston, winless in four games since beating Chicago in the season opener.
Hornets 107, Wizards 92
At Landover, Md., Glen Rice scored 24 points and Anthony Mason had 21 in Charlotte's victory over Washington.
Vlade Divac added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Hornets, who traded Muggsy Bogues and Tony Delk to Golden State earlier in the day for B.J. Armstrong. Chris Webber led Washington with 24 points.
Magic 89, Pistons 84
At Auburn Hills, Mich., Penny Hardaway scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter in Orlando's victory over Detroit.
Rony Seikaly added 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Magic. Malik Sealy led the Pistons with 18 points, and Grant Hill had 15 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.
Trail Blazers 86, Rockets 85
At Houston, Isaiah Rider's 14-foot side jumper with 6.6 seconds left ended a roughly played game.
Charles Barkley missed twice for the Rockets after Rider's basket. Arvydas Sabonis rebounded the second shot and held the ball as time expired.
The Rockets led 77-69 with 9:22 to go, but didn't get another field goal until Barkley's tip-in with 52 seconds left.
Timberwolves 108, Grizzlies 97
At Vancouver, British Columbia, Stephon Marbury, the only NBA player averaging over 20 points and 10 assists a game, had 26 points and 10 assists.
Lakers 99, Knicks 94
At Inglewood, Calif., Shaquille O'Neal, playing his first game of the season, had 17 points and eight rebounds as Los Angeles beat New York.
O'Neal missed the first game of the season with an abdominal strain and was suspended for the second, a result of his slapping Utah's Greg Ostertag during a practice at the Forum.
Clippers 98, Kings 85
At Sacramento, Calif., Brent Barry scored 11 of his 17 points in the third quarter as Los Angeles beat Sacramento to snap the Clippers' season-opening three-game losing streak.
Mitch Richmond scored 25 points for the Kings, who dropped to 0-4. A crowd of 15,858 attended the game, snapping the Kings' string of consecutive sellouts at 497.