Houston’s 3-Point Barrage Buries Utah, Evens Series

Kenny Smith scored 32 points and hit seven of Houston’s NBA playoff-record 19 3-pointers as the Rockets beat the Utah Jazz 140-126 Saturday night in Salt Lake City to even their Midwest Division series at 1-1.

Smith’s 7-of-8 effort on 3-pointers, and three each by Clyde Drexler, Robert Horry, Mario Elie and Pete Chilcutt sent the Rockets back to Houston for two games in the best-of-five series.

Hakeem Olajuwon added 27 points and Drexler 30 for Houston.

Houston’s barrage of 3-pointers shattered the previous playoff record of 12 by Phoenix in an overtime game against Houston a year ago.

Rockets 140, Jazz 126

HOUSTON (140)

Horry 8-15 2-2 21, Chilcutt 3-6 0-0 9, Olajuwon 11-22 5-10 27, Drexler 12-17 3-3 30, Smith 10-13 5-5 32, Elie 5-8 0-0 13, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 2-4 2-4 6, Cassell 0-0 0-0 0, Tabak 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 51-85 19-26 140.

UTAH (126)

Benoit 3-7 4-4 12, Malone 10-20 8-13 28, Donaldson 2-2 0-0 4, Stockton 3-13 4-4 12, Hornacek 8-9 3-3 21, Crotty 2-2 2-3 6, Carr 3-4 5-6 11, Keefe 1-2 3-4 5, Edwards 2-7 0-0 4, Chambers 2-7 5-5 10, Watson 3-3 0-0 6, Russell 2-3 1-2 7. Totals 41-79 35-44 126.

Houston 39 30 39 32 - 140

Utah 32 32 21 41 - 126

3-Point goals-Houston 19-28 (Smith 7-8, Elie 3-4, Drexler 3-5, Chilcutt 3-5, Horry 3-6), Utah 9-16 (Russell 2-2, Hornacek 2-2, Stockton 2-4, Benoit 2-5, Chambers 1-3). Fouled out-Drexler. Rebounds-Houston 41 (Horry, Olajuwon 7), Utah 47 (Malone 17). Assists-Houston 31 (Smith 9), Utah 26 (Stockton 12). Total fouls-Houston 31, Utah 26. A-19,911 (19,911).

Pacers 105, Hawks 97

Indianapolis

Reggie Miller tied an NBA playoff record by making six 3-pointers in a half and finished with 39 points as Indiana defeated Atlanta 105-97 Saturday to take a 2-0 advantage in their opening-round NBA playoff series.

Miller had 18 points in the opening period and added 11 more in the second quarter in tying the mark set by Chicago’s Michael Jordan against Portland on June 3, 1992.

ATLANTA (97)

Corbin 5-11 5-6 16, Long 3-5 4-6 10, Lang 4-9 0-0 8, Blaylock 5-13 3-4 17, Smith 7-18 10-12 27, Augmon 1-5 5-6 7, Ehlo 0-2 4-4 4, Norman 3-8 0-3 6, Whatley 0-2 0-0 0, Anderson 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 28-74 33-43 97.

INDIANA (105)

D.Davis 4-5 0-3 8, McKey 2-5 2-2 6, Smits 9-19 9-11 27, Jackson 2-5 5-7 9, Miller 12-20 8-12 39, Scott 4-11 1-1 9, A.Davis 1-3 3-4 5, Workman 1-4 0-0 2, Fleming 0-0 0-2 0, Mitchell 0-1 0-0 0, Ferrell 0-0 0-0 0.Totals 35-73 28-42 105.

Atlanta 18 25 26 28 97

Indiana 31 28 24 22 105

3-Point goals-Atlanta 8-22 (Blaylock 4-8, Smith 3-7, Corbin 1-2, Ehlo 0-2, Norman 0-3), Indiana 7-16 (Miller 7-11, Scott 0-5). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Atlanta 48 (Long 13), Indiana 60 (Smits 11). Assists-Atlanta 13 (Blaylock, Smith 3), Indiana 19 (Jackson 7). Total fouls-Atlanta 36, Indiana 36. Flagrant foul-Jackson. A-16,692 (16,530).