NBA ROUNDUP : It’s a Start for Smith: His 25 Points Lead Knicks Over the Suns, 98-96

Charles Smith, making his third start of the season, scored 25 points, including a key layup with 20 seconds to play as the New York Knicks scrambled to a 98-96 victory over Phoenix on Tuesday night at New York.

The Knicks, who avoided their first three-game losing streak, finally got some offensive help for Patrick Ewing and John Starks, who have led the team in scoring for all but three games this season. Against the Suns, Starks joined Smith with 25 points and Ewing had 24. Charles Oakley had 18 rebounds.

Cedric Ceballos scored 34 points for the Suns. Phoenix played without injured Charles Barkley and Kevin Johnson.

Ceballos, who scored 11 points in the first quarter, had 12 more in the final 5:42 of the second, lifting the Suns into a 50-44 halftime lead.

Atlanta 95, Milwaukee 90--Mookie Blaylock sank two three-point shots 38 seconds apart late in the fourth quarter to help the Hawks at Milwaukee.

Dominique Wilkins scored 23 points, Stacey Augmon had 22 points and Blaylock had 17. The Hawks beat Milwaukee for the sixth consecutive time in the last two seasons.

Blue Edwards had 26 points and Frank Brickowski had 21 for the Bucks.

Brickowski and Brad Lohaus each had five points during a 16-5 run that lifted Milwaukee into a tie, 81-81, with 7:08 to play. But Blaylock made a tiebreaking three-pointer with 3:18 left and then made another for an 87-81 lead with 2:40 remaining.

Houston 96, Cleveland 93--Vernon Maxwell’s three-point basket with 30 seconds to play rallied the Rockets at Houston.

Maxwell scored 21 points and had 10 assists, keeping Cleveland from surpassing the .500 mark for the first time this season.

Brad Daugherty scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half and kept the Cavaliers in the lead until Houston took a brief 82-81 edge with 7:28 to play.

Portland 122, New Jersey 117--Rod Strickland’s five-foot jumper and key steal in the final two minutes carried the Trail Blazers at Portland, ending the Nets’ five-game winning streak.

The game had six lead changes in the final four minutes before the Blazers went ahead to stay when Strickland scored with 1:43 to play. He then stripped the ball away from Kenny Anderson, leading to Clyde Drexler’s three-point play that gave Portland a 117-113 lead with 1:19 to play.

Clifford Robinson led all scorers with 30 points for the Blazers. Strickland had 25.

San Antonio 107, Sacramento 91--David Robinson scored 31 points and the Spurs built a 30-point lead and coasted past the Kings at San Antonio.

San Antonio won for the 13th time in 16 games. Sacramento lost its fifth in a row.

Robinson has scored 30 or more points in 18 of the Spurs’ 42 games this season, and San Antonio is 14-4 in those games. Reserve J.R. Reid added 19 points for the Spurs.

Mitch Richmond had 15 points for the Kings.

Vinny Del Negro hurried and sank a running three-pointer as the third-quarter buzzer sounded, giving the Spurs an 84-64 lead. The long shot, which followed a shot-clock violation by Sacramento with 4.5 seconds to play capped a 7-0 run by the Spurs to close the period.

Miami 119, Charlotte 98--Rony Seikaly scored 26 points and led a third-quarter run that lifted the Heat at Miami.

Seikaly had 11 points during a 20-4 burst that put the Heat ahead, 84-57, with five minutes left to play in the third period. Seikaly sank 10 of 12 shots and had 13 rebounds.

Steve Smith, who had 10 assists, and Glen Rice each scored 25 points for Miami.

The Heat romped after a 33-point rout of Washington in its last game, the second-biggest victory margin in team history.

Alonzo Mourning had 17 points, 15 rebounds and eight blocks for Charlotte. Eddie Johnson scored 20 for the Heat.

Orlando 112, Washington 89--Shaquille O’Neal had 22 points and, along with the rest of Orlando’s starters, wasn’t needed for most of the fourth quarter as the Magic routed the Bullets at Orlando.

Orlando tied a team record with its fourth consecutive victory. Washington managed only 18 fourth-quarter points against the Magic’s reserves and lost for the fourth time in five games.

O’Neal, coming off a 15-for-16 performance against Philadelphia last Saturday, was eight for 20 from the field, grabbing 12 rebounds and blocking seven shots.

The second-year center left the game with 10:33 remaining, joining Nick Anderson, who had 21 points, and Anfernee Hardaway, who had 16. Neither Anderson nor Hardaway played the fourth quarter.