The Portland Trail Blazers found yet another way to win.
The Blazers, who have the NBA's best record, blew a 21-point second-quarter lead before beating the Phoenix Suns 88-86 Sunday night on Arvydas Sabonis' inside basket with 9.8 seconds left."We come out every night and we don't feel like anybody can beat us, regardless of what happens," said Portland guard Damon Stoudamire. "We have a lot of lapses in games, like tonight, but we're still able to pull them out."
Sabonis had 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Stoudamire finished with 18 points and 13 assists for Portland, which improved to 23-5 with its sixth straight victory.
Tom Gugliotta scored 18 points for the Suns. Rookie Pat Garrity added a season-high 14 points, while Jason Kidd had 13 points and nine assists for Phoenix.
After Kidd's two free throws with 30.3 seconds tied the game at 86, Portland came down and Jim Jackson missed an 18-footer. Teammate Brian Grant grabbed the rebound and started to go up for the shot before finding Sabonis alone underneath for the easy basket.
LAKERS 99, KNICKS 91: Kobe Bryant scored 29 points and Shaquille O'Neal had 21 points and nine rebounds as the Lakers won a physical battle against the Knicks.
Kurt Thomas and Chris Dudley of the Knicks were ejected and five technical fouls were called in the game.
MAGIC 94, HEAT 87: At Orlando, Darrell Armstrong scored 19 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Magic over the Miami Heat.
Alonzo Mourning led the Heat with 24 points and 15 rebounds. P.J. Brown added 23 points and Tim Hardaway had 21 for Miami, which was 1-of-13 from 3-point range.
PISTONS 104, SUPERSONICS 87: Lindsey Hunter scored 20 points, and Jerry Stackhouse and Bison Dele added 18 each for surging Detroit.
The Pistons have won five of six overall and 10 of their last 12 at home. The Sonics, starting a five-game road trip, fell to 3-9 on the road.
PACERS 101, CELTICS 93: Chris Mullin scored all 16 of his points in the third quarter and Larry Bird remained undefeated as a coach against his former team.
Mark Jackson added 15 points for the visiting Pacers, who are 6-0 against the Celtics since Bird became Indiana's coach. Ron Mercer led Boston with 24 points, while Antoine Walker had 20 points and 11 rebounds.
RAPTORS 91, BULLS 78: Rookie Vince Carter had 22 points and six blocks as the Toronto Raptors extended their franchise-record home winning streak to six games.
The Bulls, who played without injured Toni Kukoc, lost their fourth straight. Doug Christie scored 20 points for Toronto, which has won eight of its last 10 games. Brent Barry led Chicago with 17 points.
BUCKS 94, TIMBERWOLVES 85: Haywoode Workman scored 19 points as the Milwaukee Bucks won at Minnesota, which missed its last 15 shots.
Milwaukee's bench, led by Dell Curry's 15 points, outscored the Wolves' reserves 35-19. Sam Mitchell led the Timberwolves with 20 points, while Kevin Garnett finished with 16 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists.
HORNETS 105, CAVALIERS 84: At Charlotte, rookie reserve Brad Miller scored 24 points as the Hornets defeated Cleveland.
The Hornets trailed by nine at halftime but outscored the Cavaliers 32-10 in the third quarter to take command. Wesley Person led Cleveland with 20 points.
ROCKETS 107, KINGS 93: At Sacramento, Hakeem Olajuwon had 24 points and nine rebounds as the Houston Rockets won their eighth straight game.