Heat Set Pace Toward Best Season Despite Long Casualty List

Even with several players hobbled, the Miami Heat are racing toward their best season.

Four of the team’s top nine players have missed a total of 38 games, keeping trainer Ron Culp busy.

“He’s had his work cut out for him,” coach Pat Riley said.

But the depleted Heat are hard to beat. A 26-10 record puts Miami on a pace for 59 victories, surpassing the franchise record of 42.

“We’ve got some nagging injuries,” center Alonzo Mourning said. “But it’s not going to bother us.”

Leading the list of casualties is Dan Majerle, who has missed 10 games with a bad back and expects to be sidelined at least until February.

Forward Kurt Thomas has missed 17 games with ankle injuries, and backup point guard Gary Grant has missed eight games with a strained back.

Jordan tops million

Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls topped the one million mark in votes and held to his overall lead in results of fan balloting announced Tuesday for the Eastern Conference All-Star team.

Jordan is the only player to have more than one million votes, with 1,070,908.

Anderson cleared

Orlando Magic guard Nick Anderson was cleared of a rape accusation Tuesday when the state attorney’s office said it would not prosecute the case because of insufficient evidence.

Anderson, who had maintained his innocence and passed a polygraph test, said the rape complaint was filed after he rejected an attempt by a woman to extort $600,000.

Injury report

Charlotte Hornets forward Matt Geiger will undergo surgery today to remove a herniated disc from his back and will miss eight weeks. … The Boston Celtics announced that they have activated guard Dana Barros from the injured list and placed center-forward Dino Radja on the injured list due to left kneecap surgery. … The Chicago Bulls activated center Luc Longley after a seven-week recovery from a shoulder separation and placed guard Ron Harper in Longley’s spot on the injured list with a strained back.

On the courts

Charles Barkley had 29 points, 12 rebounds and no fights with Charles Oakley as Houston defeated New York 106-86, in Houston.

All eyes were on Barkley and Oakley early in the game. Oakley body-slammed Barkley to the floor during an exhibition game and received a two-game suspension and $10,000 fine. Barkley drew a one-game suspension and $5,000 fine.

Michael Jordan scored 39 points, including eight in the final 2 minutes, and Dennis Rodman reached 10,000 career rebounds as the Chicago Bulls beat the visiting Washington Bullets 108-107. … Kevin Johnson scored 25 points and recorded his 6,000th career assist in Phoenix’s 110-101 victory over Denver… . Mitch Richmond scored seven of his 37 points in overtime and 13 of the Kings’ final 19 points to lead host Sacramento to a 105-98 victory over Indiana.