Olajuwon, Rockets Send Lakers Home
Hakeem Olajuwon scored 25 points, making two key baskets down the stretch as the Houston Rockets beat the visiting Los Angeles Lakers 102-94 Thursday night to win their opening-round series 3-1.
The Rockets, seeking their third straight NBA championship, will meet Seattle in the second round. The SuperSonics beat Sacramento 3-1.
The Lakers cut Houston’s lead to 91-86 on a jumper by Anthony Peeler with 4:28 left, but Olajuwon then made a jumper and a hook shot to put Houston up 95-86 with 57 seconds left.
The Lakers pulled to 98-94 on a 3-pointer by Cedric Ceballos with 16 seconds left, but Sam Cassell made two free throws for Houston and Clyde Drexler capped the win with a steal and layup with 6 seconds remaining.
Cedric Ceballos led L.A. with 25.
Rockets 102, Lakers 94
L.A. Lakers (94) - Ceballos 10-19 4-5 25, Campbell 5-13 5-7 15, Divac 4-9 1-2 9, E.Jones 4-7 3-4 14, Van Exel 5-13 3-3 15, Johnson 2-8 4-4 8, Threatt 0-2 0-0 0, Peeler 3-6 0-0 8. Totals 33-77 20-25 94.
Houston (102) - Horry 7-13 0-2 17, Brown 6-7 4-4 16, Olajuwon 12-22 1-2 25, Drexler 2-11 2-2 6, Smith 6-6 1-1 17, Elie 4-8 1-1 9, Bryant 1-1 0-0 2, Cassell 1-6 8-9 10, Mack 0-1 0-0 0, C.Jones 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 39-75 17-21 102.
L.A. Lakers 29 22 25 18 - 94
Houston 35 23 25 19 - 102
3-Point goals-Los Angeles 8-21 (E.Jones 3-3, Peeler 2-3, Van Exel 2-5, Ceballos 1-5, Campbell 0-1, Divac 0-1, Threatt 0-1, Johnson 0-2), Houston 7-18 (Smith 4-4, Horry 3-8, Cassell 0-1, Mack 0-1, Drexler 0-2, Elie 0-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Los Angeles 45 (Ceballos 12), Houston 44 (Olajuwon 11). Assists-Los Angeles 24 (Van Exel 11), Houston 29 (Olajuwon, Drexler 7). Total fouls-Los Angeles 20, Houston 21. Technicals-Los Angeles illegal defense, Houston illegal defense, Ceballos, Brown. A-16,285 (16,285).
Pacers 83, Hawks 75
Atlanta
Indiana held Atlanta scoreless for more than 7 minutes in the fourth quarter to stay alive in the first round of the playoffs.
The Pacers evened the series at two games apiece. The deciding game in the best-of-five series is Sunday at Indianapolis.
The Hawks missed 13 shots in a row after Grant Long’s tip-in with 8:32 remaining cut the Pacers lead to 73-71. By the time Long broke the streak - tipping in another miss, appropriately - there was only 1:09 left and the Pacers had built the lead to 10 points.
Indiana (83) - McKey 5-12 3-3 14, D.Davis 1-2 1-4 3, Smits 8-12 1-1 17, Pierce 5-11 2-4 12, Jackson 5-15 1-2 12, A.Davis 2-5 2-2 6, Workman 1-2 0-0 3, Ferrell 3-5 1-3 7, Best 2-5 5-6 9. Totals 32-69 16-25 83.
Atlanta (75) - Augmon 2-7 4-4 8, Long 4-12 0-2 9, Laettner 3-9 3-6 9, Smith 6-18 6-7 19, Blaylock 7-18 0-0 17, Ehlo 2-6 1-1 6, Henderson 1-3 0-0 2, Jordan 1-1 1-2 3, Rooks 1-3 0-3 2. Totals 27-77 15-25 75.
Indiana 25 25 18 15 - 83
Atlanta 22 19 23 11 - 75
3-Point goals-Indiana 3-10 (Workman 1-2, McKey 1-3, Jackson 1-4, Best 0-1), Atlanta 6-20 (Blaylock 3-10, Long 1-3, Ehlo 1-3, Smith 1-4). Fouled out-Smits. Rebounds- Indiana 55 (D.Davis, Smits 9), Atlanta 51 (Long 12). Assists-Indiana 14 (Jackson 5), Atlanta 11 (Blaylock 5). Total fouls-Indiana 25, Atlanta 22. Technicals-Smits. Flagrant fouls-D.Davis. A-15,482 (16,378).
xxxx NBA PLAYOFFS Today’s game San Antonio at Phoenix, 6 (TNT)