Strickland Finds Niche In Miami

Temple coach John Chaney finds a measure of satisfaction in seeing ex-Owl Mark Strickland play his way through the USBL and CBA all the way into the rotation of the Miami Heat.

“I tell him all the time, why did he wait to get to the pros to show that kind of discipline?” Chaney said.

“Now he’s running and jumping, finishing plays. He could always rebound, but when he was with us he was very young in the mind, in terms of wanting things to happen quickly. He didn’t dot all his i’s, cross all his t’s.”

The 6-9 Strickland averaged a modest 7.5 points and 6.1 rebounds in three seasons.

“Sometimes we misread the will and spirit of youngsters,” Chaney said.

On the courts

Karl Malone scored 32 points, Jeff Hornacek had 23 and the Utah Jazz shot over 60 percent Friday night to win their sixth consecutive road game, 122-115 over the New Jersey Nets in East Rutherford, N.J.

Malone, who reached the 30-point mark for the 15th time this season, shot 12 for 23 from the field yet still managed to have the worst accuracy of Utah’s starting five.

Hornacek shot 8 for 12, John Stockton was 7 for 9, Adam Keefe was 3 for 5 and Greg Foster shot 3 for 4. Utah’s four reserves combined to shoot 12 for 21.

Derek Fisher scored 10 of Los Angeles’ last 17 points and Shaquille O’Neal had 23 points to lead the Lakers to a 91-84 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Inglewood, Calif.

At Oakland, Calif., Rik Smits scored 21 points and the Indiana Pacers opened the fourth quarter with a 12-0 run to make Chris Mullin’s homecoming a success with a 101-87 win over Golden State.

Billy Owens hit a pair of free throws with 13.2 seconds left as the Sacramento Kings rallied to defeat the Vancouver Grizzlies 98-96 in Vancouver.