Suns Storm To 2-0 Lead On Champs

Lightning hit Houston twice.

The Phoenix Suns, who blew out the defending champions by 22 points two days ago, got 30 points from Charles Barkley and 29 from Kevin Johnson on Thursday night and stampeded the Rockets 118-94 to take a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference semifinal.

“I’m real proud of the way we’re playing,” said coach Paul Westphal, who saw the Suns go up 2-0 on the Rockets in the second round last year only to have Houston win four of the next five. “We’re obviously in a good groove, and they’re struggling a little bit.”

Game 3 of the best-of-7 series is Saturday at Houston.

Johnson, who had 10 of his 12 assists by halftime, softened up the Rockets with cat-like drives to the basket, and he and his teammates hit timely shots from outside.

“We were making Houston work for everything, especially Hakeem down in the blocks,” Johnson said.

Hakeem Olajuwon scored 25 points for the Rockets and Robert Horry had 20.

Olajuwon, who averaged 35 points in five games against the Utah Jazz in the first round, said Houston wasn’t playing its game.

“In this series, I have to be a factor,” he said. “That’s our system, and we have to explore that area.”

“We just didn’t have any direction,” Horry said. “We missed a lot of shots early on and never got going.”

The Suns were up 35-19 after one quarter and 61-40 at halftime. The game tightened a bit in the third period, when Barkley committed all four fouls and the Rockets put their running game in gear, outrebounding the Suns 14-9 after trailing 26-13 on the boards at the half.

Olajuwon started a 6-0 run in a 54-second span with a hook in the lane, Clyde Drexler sank a 3-pointer, and Olajuwon ended it with a free throw, cutting the Phoenix lead to 65-50 with 8:39 left.

Johnson responded with two free throws and then took a rebound coast to coast for a 15-foot baseline jumper, and the Rockets could get no closer than 15 points the rest of the game.

“We’re really focused in, trying to make life easier for ourselves,” Johnson said. “If we get a 10-point lead, we want another 10 points. We’re not going to give it back.”

The Suns made 10 of their first 18 shots and jumped to a 24-11 lead in the first 7:35.

Sam Cassell made two free throws, and then Horry knocked down his first 3-point attempt with 3:22 left in the period, cutting the deficit to 24-16.

It was the last time the Phoenix lead was in single figures.

“We just played terrific tonight,” Barkley said. “We’ve played terrific for the last month. Now we have to play terrific for two more games.”

Suns 118, Rockets 94

HOUSTON (94)

Chilcutt 1-5 5-6 8, Horry 6-9 6-7 20, Olajuwon 12-23 1-4 25, Drexler 6-18 1-2 15, Smith 2-9 2-2 7, Cassell 2-7 2-2 7, Brown 0-2 1-2 1, Elie 2-4 4-6 9, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Tabak 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 32-78 22-31 94.

PHOENIX (118)

Barkley 10-17 9-10 30, Green 1-6 2-2 4, Kleine 4-6 0-0 9, Johnson 12-18 3-3 29, Person 4-10 1-1 12, Schayes 1-1 0-0 2, Tisdale 4-9 0-0 8, Majerle 4-9 0-0 10, Perry 3-5 2-2 8, Ainge 2-5 0-0 6.Totals 45-86 17-18 118.

Houston 19 21 30 24 - 94

Phoenix 35 26 25 32 - 118

3-Point goals-Houston 8-25 (Horry 2-2, Drexler 2-8, Elie 1-2, Cassell 1-3, Chilcutt 1-4, Smith 1-6), Phoenix 11-24 (Person 3-7, Johnson 2-2, Ainge 2-4, Majerle 2-5, Kleine 1-1, Barkley 1-3, Green 0-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Houston 47 (Horry 8), Phoenix 60 (Green 14). Assists-Houston 22 (Drexler 7), Phoenix 29 (Johnson 12). Total fouls-Houston 18, Phoenix 24. Technical-Houston coach Tomjanovich. A-19,023 (19,023).

Pacers 97, Knicks 95 (OT)

NEW YORK (95)

Oakley 7-14 8-10 23, Smith 5-9 2-4 12, Ewing 4-9 3-4 11, Harper 4-9 3-4 13, Starks 8-17 0-4 23, Mason 3-6 3-7 9, Anthony 2-3 0-0 4, H.Davis 0-2 0-0 0, H.Williams 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 33-72 19-33 95.

INDIANA (97)

D.Davis 3-6 2-2 8, McKey 4-15 5-6 14, Smits 6-9 9-12 21, Jackson 1-2 3-4 5, Miller 11-21 4-4 26, A.Davis 1-3 8-10 10, Kite 0-0 0-0 0, Workman 3-6 3-4 10, Mitchell 0-3 0-0 0, Scott 0-1 3-4 3. Totals 29-66 37-46 97.

New York 29 20 24 15 7 - 95

Indiana 24 21 20 23 9 - 97

3-Point goals-New York 10-20 (Starks 7-11, Harper 2-5, Oakley 1-3, Anthony 0-1), Indiana 2-10 (McKey 1-3, Workman 1-3, Jackson 0-1, Miller 0-3). Fouled out-Ewing, Smith. Rebounds- New York 38 (Oakley 7), Indiana 61 (Miller 11). Assists-New York 24 (Starks 9), Indiana 11 (Jackson 4). Total fouls-New York 39, Indiana 32. Technicals-Harper, Smits, Miller, D.Davis. Flagrant foul-D.Davis. A-16,675 (16,530).

Wednesday’s results

Bulls 104, Magic 94

CHICAGO (104)

Kukoc 5-10 0-0 11, Pippen 6-14 8-10 22, Longley 1-1 0-0 2, Jordan 17-30 3-8 38, Armstrong 1-6 0-0 3, Perdue 2-5 3-4 7, Blount 0-0 0-0 0, Kerr 4-6 2-2 11, Myers 1-1 0-2 2, Buechler 2-4 0-0 4, Wennington 1-2 2-2 4, Harper 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 40-79 18-28 104.

ORLANDO (94)

Grant 11-16 1-3 23, Royal 0-3 0-0 0, O’Neal 6-15 13-20 25, Anderson 6-14 3-5 16, Hardaway 7-13 5-7 20, Scott 1-9 0-0 2, Rollins 0-0 0-0 0, Shaw 3-5 1-2 8, Turner 0-1 0-0 0.Totals 34-76 23-37 94.

Chicago 21 28 31 24 - 104

Orlando 20 28 23 23 - 94

3-Point goals-Chicago 6-11 (Pippen 2-4, Armstrong 1-1, Jordan 1-1, Kerr 1-2, Kukoc 1-3), Orlando 3-16 (Shaw 1-2, Hardaway 1-3, Anderson 1-6, Scott 0-5). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Chicago 52 (Kukoc, Perdue 8), Orlando 53 (Grant 15). Assists-Chicago 19 (Pippen 5), Orlando 21 (Hardaway 7). Total fouls-Chicago 30, Orlando 25. A-16,010 (16,010).