NBA ROUNDUP : Bulls Caught Off Guard, Lose Again

The whistle blew, and neither the Cleveland Cavaliers nor the Chicago Bulls knew why.

“I didn’t know. I thought maybe it was an inadvertent whistle or something,” the Bulls’ B.J. Armstrong said Sunday after he was called for a critical 10-second violation in the Cavaliers’ 99-95 victory at Richfield, Ohio.

The Cavaliers won their 10th in a row, one away from the team record. The Bulls have lost five in a row, their longest skid since they dropped six in a row in April 1989.

The Cavaliers, leading 94-93, knocked the ball out of bounds with 28 seconds left after Chicago’s Horace Grant rebounded a Cleveland shot. Armstrong didn’t realize that five seconds had already ticked off, leaving him just five seconds to get the ball past half court. With Mark Price applying modest pressure, Armstrong brought the ball upcourt too slowly.

Cleveland then made its last five points on foul shots.

“I don’t think anybody was really aware of the situation,” Price said. “Apparently they got the rebound, and then there was a scuffle for the ball, so some time ran off the shot clock.”

Said Armstrong: “That’s the first time it’s happened to me in five years in this league. It was just a funny situation that happened at the wrong time for us.”

San Antonio 111, Orlando 103--David Robinson won the battle with Shaquille O’Neal, especially in the fourth quarter. Robinson had 36 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and six blocked shots as the Spurs rallied late in the game for a victory at San Antonio.

Robinson had 12 of his points in the fourth quarter as the Spurs outscored the Magic, 37-17, to come back from an 86-74 deficit after three quarters.

O’Neal finished with 32 points and 11 rebounds, but he scored only three points in the fourth quarter.

New Jersey 126, Philadelphia 99--Derrick Coleman had his second career triple-double with 13 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists and the Nets set a team record with nine three-pointers at East Rutherford, N.J.

It was the 13th consecutive loss for the 76ers, their longest streak since the 1972-73 season.

Utah 103, Phoenix 92--John Stockton had 18 points and 20 assists, many of which helped Karl Malone score 30 points, as the Jazz defeated the Suns at Phoenix. The Jazz, winning its ninth in a row, ended the Suns’ 10-game homecourt winning streak. It was Utah’s first victory at Phoenix since March 7, 1986.

Seattle 102, Sacramento 85--Gary Payton scored 24 points and Vincent Askew added a career-high 19 as the SuperSonics won at Sacramento.

Denver 117, Minnesota 97--Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf scored 21 points and Dikembe Mutombo had nine blocked shots in the Nuggets’ victory at Denver. Chris Smith scored 25 for the Timberwolves.