NBA ROUNDUP : Suddenly, They Have Rocketed Into Contention

As the NBA regular season moved into March, it seemed unlikely the Houston Rockets would wind up in the playoffs. Only eight teams qualify for postseason play in each conference and the Rockets had the 10th-best record in the Western Conference.

And Akeem Olajuwon, their magnificent center, was unhappy and talking about seeking a trade.

But the brilliant center put aside his problems and the Rockets began to roll.

Another big night for Olajuwon at Houston carried the Rockets to a 105-95 victory over Dallas Saturday night, their sixth victory in a row.

Olajuwon had 25 points, 16 rebounds and eight blocked shots. The Rockets are only a half game behind Seattle, the eighth-place team.

In the past six games, Olajuwon has been a dominating player. He has averaged 31.5 points, 14 rebounds and 7.3 blocks per game. Included in the streak are victories over the San Antonio Spurs and the Lakers.

The Rockets have also been getting better play out of guards Sleepy Floyd and Mitchell Wiggins.

Floyd, apparently out of Coach Don Chaney’s doghouse, scored 17 points and Wiggins, going eight of 12 from the field, had 19.

It was a tight game for three quarters, but Olajuwon led a 13-2 spurt early in the fourth quarter that broke it open.

Portland 116, Washington 113--After beating the three top teams in the Atlantic Division in their swing through the East, the Trail Blazers barely lasted against the No. 4 team.

With Clyde Drexler scoring 17 of his 31 points in the third quarter, the Trail Blazers built a 12-point lead. They still led by 12 with 3:26 left, 112-100, but a full-court press nearly did in the Blazers.

The lead was 114-113 when the Bullets’ Bernard King was fouled. But King missed both foul shots and Portland completed an unprecedented 4-0 road sweep against the Atlantic Division.

All the Blazers’ starters were in double figures as they improved their road record to 17-14 and moved to within three games of the Lakers in the Pacific Division.

Phoenix 101, Minnesota 98--The Suns hung on to win their fourth in a row.

After blowing a 12-point lead in the closing minutes, the Suns took advantage of the Timberwolves’ lapses in overtime at Minneapolis.

After the Timberwolves rallied to tie the score, 94-94, they missed a chance to win in regulation when Tony Campbell lost the ball while driving to the basket with 13 seconds to play.

In overtime, Minnesota scored only one point in its first eight possessions.

New York 110, New Jersey 91--Patrick Ewing scored 31 points, going 13 of 15 from the field at New York to lead the Knicks.

The Nets, playing without ailing big men Sam Bowie and Roy Hinson, fought back from a 23-point deficit to pull even before losing their 18th consecutive road game.

At halftime, the Knicks honored former coach Red Holzman and Dick Barnett, but except for Ewing, it didn’t seem to inspire the Knicks.

The Knicks activated forward Kiki Vandeweghe, who has missed the entire season because of injuries, but he did not play.

Chicago 117, Indiana 105--Michael Jordan took charge at Chicago and the Bulls strengthened their grip on second place in the Central Division.

Jordan, nearing his fourth consecutive scoring title, had 45 points and seven rebounds and the Bulls moved seven games ahead of third-place Milwaukee. The Bulls are 6 1/2 games behind Detroit.

Reggie Miller led the Pacers with 30 points, but Jordan scored 10 points in a 16-4 run in the third quarter to secure the victory.

San Antonio 118, Denver 111--The Spurs have been waiting most of the season for Sean Elliott to show the form that he displayed in college.

Maybe he’s just getting ready for the playoffs.

Elliott, in his best performance of the season, scored a career-high 24 points at San Antonio to lead the Spurs. Elliott was 12 of 16 from the floor in 31 minutes.

David Robinson, the Spurs’ rookie center, had 26 points and nine rebounds as the Spurs moved within four games of Utah in the Midwest Division.