Barkley, Green Lead Suns
NBA playoffs
Charles Barkley and A.C. Green punished Portland on the backboards Sunday in Phoenix, and Kevin Johnson led the way down the stretch as the Phoenix Suns beat the Trail Blazers 103-94, pushing them to within one game of elimination from the playoffs.
The Suns lead the first-round series, which moves to Portland for Game 3 on Tuesday night, 2-0.
Barkley had 25 points and 13 rebounds, and Green had 20 and 15. Each had six on the offensive boards as the Suns, outrebounded in each meeting with the Blazers during the season, had a 47-35 edge in this game.
Johnson, who scored 28 points, had seven rebounds of his own to help Phoenix, which swept the regular series, win its seventh straight against the Blazers.
The Blazers came from nine points down in the second period to lead 57-53 at halftime and went up 63-53 in the first 1:10 of the third.
But Johnson, who had 11 points in the quarter, scored seven during a 19-6 surge.
Wayman Tisdale got the lead back for Phoenix, 70-69, with a jumper in the lane with 4:06 to play. In the final minutes, Barkley had three baskets and Johnson hit four free throws to send the Suns to an 80-74 lead entering the fourth quarter.
PORTLAND (94)
C.Robinson 6-20 0-0 13, Williams 1-3 0-0 2, Dudley 2-2 2-4 6, Grant 6-11 6-8 21, Strickland 9-23 6-6 26, Thorpe 3-4 2-4 8, Kersey 5-10 1-1 11, McKie 1-1 0-0 2, Porter 2-2 1-2 5. Totals 35-76 18-25 94.
PHOENIX (103)
Barkley 7-17 11-14 25, Green 6-8 8-8 20, Kleine 1-2 0-0 2, Johnson 9-14 10-10 28, Person 4-8 0-0 10, Tisdale 2-9 3-4 7, Majerle 2-5 0-0 6, Schayes 1-2 0-0 2, Ainge 1-4 0-0 3, Perry 0-2 0-0 0, Ruffin 0-0 0-2 0, Dumas 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 33-72 32-38 103.
Portland 27 30 17 20 - 94 Phoenix 30 23 27 23 - 103
3-Point goals-Portland 6-18 (Grant 3-5, Strickland 2-3, C.Robinson 1-8, Kersey 0-2), Phoenix 5-15 (Majerle 2-4, Person 2-5, Ainge 1-3, Barkley 0-3). Fouled out-None. Rebounds- Portland 41 (Williams 7), Phoenix 52 (Green 15). Assists- Portland 21 (Strickland 12), Phoenix 15 (Johnson 6). Total fouls-Portland 24, Phoenix 23. Technicals-Thorpe, Green, Portland illegal defense, 2. A-19,023 (19,023).
Hornets 106, Bulls 89 Charlotte, N.C.
Larry Johnson scored 25 points and Alonzo Mourning had 23 and 20 rebounds to lead Charlotte past Chicago and even their first-round playoff series.
Both players overcame slow starts to key a big second half by Charlotte as the best-of-five series moves to Chicago for Game 3 on Tuesday night. Mourning had 11 rebounds in the fourth quarter, and the Hornets’ big front line gave Charlotte a 45-34 advantage on the boards.
A Chicago team that seemed to be hitting everything in the first half lost its shooting touch in the second. In the second half, the Bulls missed 30 of 42 field-goal attempts, and even 32 points from Michael Jordan couldn’t help them.
With a 79-74 lead entering the fourth quarter, Charlotte scored 12 straight points to go up 91-76 with 7:18 to play. Dell Curry capped the run with a 3-pointer and an 18-footer.
Meanwhile, the Bulls missed six straight shots during a stretch in which Jordan shot an air ball from behind the 3-point line with nobody near him.
He came back with three straight 3-pointers to cut the lead to seven with 3:31 remaining, but Chicago couldn’t come any closer.
CHICAGO (89)
Kukoc 3-12 2-2 9, Pippen 5-15 6-7 18, Perdue 1-3 4-6 6, Armstrong 5-8 2-2 13, Jordan 13-25 3-6 32, Longley 1-3 0-0 2, Blount 0-0 0-0 0, Wennington 2-4 0-0 4, Buechler 0-0 0-0 0, Myers 0-0 0-0 0, Kerr 2-5 0-0 5. Totals 32-75 17-23 89.
CHARLOTTE (106)
Johnson 9-18 6-8 25, Wingate 1-7 0-0 2, Mourning 6-15 10-10 23, Bogues 5-11 2-2 13, Hawkins 5-11 3-4 15, Gattison 0-1 2-2 2, Curry 4-9 2-2 12, Hancock 2-4 0-0 4, Adams 2-5 0-0 4, Parish 3-4 0-1 6. Totals 37-85 25-29 106.
Chicago 28 26 20 15 - 89 Charlotte 25 27 27 27 - 106
3-Point goals-Chicago 8-21 (Jordan 3-6, Pippen 2-7, Armstrong 1-2, Kukoc 1-3, Kerr 1-3), Charlotte 7-19 (Hawkins 2-5, Curry 2-6, Johnson 1-1, Mourning 1-2, Bogues 1-2, Wingate 0-1, Adams 0-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Chicago 47 (Pippen 8), Charlotte 54 (Mourning 20). Assists-Chicago 19 (Jordan 7), Charlotte 24 (Bogues 7). Total fouls-Chicago 27, Charlotte 22. Technical-Chicago coach Jackson. A-23,859 (23,698).
Spurs 122, Nuggets 96
San Antonio Dennis Rodman, in one of the best playoff games of his career, had 19 points and 16 rebounds as San Antonio trounced Denver for a 2-0 lead in its Western Conference series.
The best-of-5 series continues Tuesday in Denver, where the Nuggets must win to avoid playoff elimination. Last year, Denver was down 0-2 to Seattle and rallied to win the series.
Rodman, who sported blonde hair inscribed with the red symbol of an AIDS awareness ribbon, was anything but benevolent on the court.
The aggressive forward led all players at halftime with 15 points and late in the first period had a run-in with the Nuggets’ Dikembe Mutombo, appearing to elbow Mutombo in the stomach as he fell to the floor.
Rodman was called for a looseball foul and a technical.
DENVER (96)
R.Williams 4-14 2-2 12, Rogers 1-3 0-0 2, Mutombo 1-2 3-6 5, Abdul-Rauf 7-13 6-6 21, Rose 1-7 2-2 4, D.Ellis 6-16 3-3 16, Stith 4-8 8-10 16, B.Williams 2-5 0-0 4, Grant 0-3 2-2 2, Levingston 2-3 0-0 4, Hammonds 5-9 0-2 10. Totals 33-83 26-33 96.
SAN ANTONIO (122)
Rodman 7-10 5-6 19, Elliott 5-6 5-6 18, Robinson 6-14 7-8 19, Johnson 5-7 4-4 14, Del Negro 3-7 0-1 8, Person 3-6 2-2 9, Cummings 2-5 5-5 9, Reid 1-4 3-4 5, Anderson 3-3 2-3 8, Rivers 2-5 5-6 11, Haley 1-3 0-0 2, Nwosu 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 38-72 38-45 122.
Denver 23 16 28 29 - 96 San Antonio 26 34 31 31 - 122
3-Point goals-Denver 4-19 (R.Williams 2-5, Abdul-Rauf 1-3, D.Ellis 1-5, Rogers 0-1, Stith 0-2, Rose 0-3), San Antonio 8-12 (Elliott 3-3, Rivers 2-2, Del Negro 2-3, Person 1-4). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Denver 46 (D.Ellis 10), San Antonio 52 (Rodman 16). Assists-Denver 21 (Rose 10), San Antonio 29 (Johnson 9). Total fouls-Denver 35, San Antonio 26. Technicals-Denver coach Bickerstaff, Grant, Del Negro, Rodman, Johnson, San Antonio illegal defense. Flagrant fouls- Grant, Haley. Ejections-Haley, Johnson. A-23,665 (26,127).