NBA Roundup : Hawks Make Nets Their 7th Straight Victim, 120-94

Dominique Wilkins, Kevin Willis and Randy Wittman each scored 18 points to pace the Atlanta Hawks to their seventh straight victory, a 120-94 decision over the New Jersey Nets Thursday night at Atlanta.

The Hawks, who moved within a half-game of idle, first-place Detroit in the Central Division, broke the game open with a 28-11 spurt in the second quarter to lead, 62-43, at the intermission. Wilkins scored 14 of his points in the eight minutes before halftime, and New Jersey did not hit a shot in the last 5:47 of the quarter.

Atlanta led, 86-69, heading into the final period and was never threatened. New Jersey’s Tim McCormick led all scorers with 23 points.

Houston 113, Utah 107--Akeem Olajuwon scored 22 points and pulled down 15 rebounds, and Purvis Short sank 4 free throws in the final 13 seconds to give the Rockets the win at Houston.

The victory assured the Rockets (42-30) of their fourth straight winning season and moved them 2 1/2 games ahead of the Jazz (40-33) for the fifth Western Conference playoff spot.

Utah cut the lead to 107-104 with 1:06 left on a turnaround jumper by Thurl Bailey, but Houston’s Rodney McCray converted a dunk with 36 seconds left, and Short added his free throws to seal the win.

Utah forward Karl Malone had 33 points to lead all scorers.