Heat Stay Torrid With Narrow Win

Around the NBA

Alonzo Mourning scored 26 points and Tim Hardaway made three free throws in the final 12 seconds as the Miami Heat beat the Toronto Raptors 89-88 in Miami Saturday.

It was the 13th win in 14 games for the Heat, who got 15 points apiece from Hardaway and Sasha Danilovic. Miami improved to 13 games over .500 (18-5) for the first time in franchise history. <,,

The Raptors, who were led by Walt Williams’ 18 points, have lost all eight of their road games this season. Dating back to last year, they have lost 12 straight and 18 of their last 19 away from home.

Jazz roll on

Greg Ostertag scored 16 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and blocked five shots as the Utah Jazz handed the Orlando Magic their worst loss of the season, 101-68 Saturday night. John Stockton also scored 16 points in just 25 minutes as the Jazz coasted to their 16th win in their last 17 games.

Rodman roars back

Dennis Rodman returned from his two-game suspension and grabbed a season-high 23 rebounds as the Chicago Bulls defeated the Charlotte Hornets 87-82 Saturday night.

Michael Jordan scored 29 points and Toni Kukoc made a 3-pointer with 1:52 left to break a 78-all tie. The Bulls improved to 20-3 despite shooting only 36 percent.

Elsewhere

Chris Childs scored 20 points and Patrick Ewing had 18 as the New York Knicks defeated visiting Denver 89-82 to extend their winning streak to six games and send the Nuggets to their 10th straight loss. … David Robinson scored 27 points, his most since returning from the injured list, and made the game-winning basket to lead the San Antonio Spurs past the Dallas Mavericks 106-105 in San Antonio. … The Cleveland Cavaliers held Minnesota to 18 percent shooting in the final quarter and rallied to defeat the Timberwolves 101-93 in Minneapolis.

Buck up

When the New York Knicks went through an off-season overhaul last summer, all the attention was focused on Larry Johnson, Allan Houston and Chris Childs. The free-agent signing of Buck Williams was sort of an afterthought.

Now that 20 games have been played, the acquisition of Williams is turning out to be a major boost for the Knicks.

“He’s been the most consistent player on the team this season,” coach Jeff Van Gundy said of Williams, who is averaging 5.9 rebounds and 22 minutes in New York’s 14-6 start.

“It was sort of surprising to hear that remark,” Williams said. “I think I’m playing a little more than I expected. I knew the Knicks needed a back-up power forward and I knew I fit the bill, but I didn’t expect to be this much of a part of what we’re trying to do and playing such a key role.”

Williams also had offers from the Chicago Bulls and Houston Rockets, but he turned down the Bulls because they could only offer the NBA minimum salary of $247,500, and he turned down the Rockets because he thought the Knicks had a better chance to win the championship.

“That was before they made the trade for Charles Barkley,” Williams said with a laugh.

The 15-year veteran got a three-year deal from New York for $4.1 million.

Bricklayers

“Everybody talks about Shaq. Nobody talks about Webber.”

The subject was free throw shooting, and Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy was referring to the 15-for-29 performance the Bullets had against his team.

Webber shot 6 for 11 from the line against New York, which actually improved his free throw percentage by a few points. He entered the weekend shooting 49.5 percent from the line, down from his career average of 52.8 percent.

Webber’s foul shooting has dragged the Bullets’ team percentage down to 66.1 percent, not far off the NBA-record low of 63.5 percent by the 1967-68 Philadelphia 76ers. Wilt Chamberlain shot a career-low 38 percent from the line that season, missing 578 of 932 attempts.

As for O’Neal, he has missed 111 of 215 attempts for a 48.4 percent accuracy rate. O’Neal’s free throw percentage has declined every year he has been in the NBA.

The worst free throw shooter in the league right now (minimum 20 attempts) is Jim McIlvaine of Seattle, who has made only nine of 29 attempts (31 percent).

Plan B

Fans were heading for the exits well before the exciting finish of Boston’s triple-overtime victory over Toronto on Wednesday night, apparently put off by the slowdown brand of basketball favored by almost every team in the league.

The 63-minute game produced a final score of 115-113. Ten years ago, a triple-overtime NBA game was more likely to end up 157-155.

The Celtics noticed the exodus from the Fleet Center, and they have decided to do something about it.

Coach M.L. Carr said Thursday that Boston will try to adopt a more free-wheeling, run-and-gun offense. He wants the Celtics to average far more than the 96 points they score each night.