Hawks Soar To 10th Win In Row
Dikembe Mutombo never thought the Atlanta Hawks’ winning streak was in jeopardy.
“We knew we were going to win,” Mutombo said after Atlanta improved to 10-0 with an 89-83 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday night at Georgia Tech. “We knew all we had to do was pressure them and help each other on defense.”
Mutombo, who had 19 points and 14 rebounds, made a layup to give the Hawks a 73-72 lead with 7:30 left and Atlanta didn’t trail again in beating the Clippers for the seventh straight time.
“We made our free throws and finished strong. We have to be careful against below-.500 teams because they have nothing to lose,” said Mutombo, who had four points, five rebounds and a block during Atlanta’s 15-6 run in the fourth period.
Steve Smith, who also scored 19, said the Clippers pushed the ball one night after a 130-96 loss in Charlotte, the Clippers’ worst in two years.
The Hawks, five wins shy of the league record for the start of a season, have won each of the last seven by no more than six points.
Lakers still unbeaten
The Lakers wish they were all this easy.
Eddie Jones scored 28 points and Nick Van Exel added 24 as Los Angeles equaled the best-ever start in franchise history with its eighth consecutive victory, 121-95 over the visiting Vancouver Grizzlies.
The Lakers’ last perfect start was an 8-0 run in 1987-88, en route to their most recent NBA title.
Jones and Van Exel shot so well, Shaquille O’Neal got lost in the shuffle with 14 points and five rebounds. His inside presence wasn’t necessary against Vancouver backup center Ivano Newbill, who had just five rebounds.
Other games
Cliff Robinson hit a jumper from the free-throw line with three-tenths of a second left, allowing the host Phoenix Suns to come back from 16 points down and beat the Houston Rockets 96-94.
Clyde Drexler, whose 3-pointer tied it with 14 seconds to go, took an inbounds pass and got off a final shot, but hit the top of the backboard, and the Rockets absorbed their fourth straight loss.
Sherman Douglas scored 25 points and Kerry Kittles 23 as the New Jersey Nets beat the Cavaliers 77-72 in front of the smallest NBA crowd in Cleveland since 1992.
The Nets’ starting backcourt outscored Cleveland’s 48-12 even though Sam Cassell missed the first half with the flu. Douglas, acquired by the Cavs during the offseason but quickly dealt to New Jersey, kept the poor-shooting Nets in the game with 14 points in the first half while Cassell was resting.
Cleveland, which beat the defending champion Chicago Bulls in their last home game, played like the sloppy, pre-Shawn Kemp Cavs in front of the smallest crowd at Gund Arena since it opened in 1994 - only 12,860 on a cold, miserable night near Lake Erie.