NBA ROUNDUP : Trail Blazers Breeze, Tie Lakers For Lead

The Trail Blazers beat the Midwest Division-leading Utah Jazz, 122-98, at Portland Tuesday night to tie the Lakers for first place in the Western Conference’s Pacific Division, each with a record of 31-11.

Terry Porter had 24 points, 10 assists and a career-high eight steals as the Trail Blazers won their seventh consecutive game and ended a nine-game winning streak by Utah, which leads the Midwest Division.

Karl Malone led the Jazz with 30 points but had only two in the final quarter. The Utah winning streak was one game shorter than the league’s best this season, by the Phoenix Suns.

This is the first time Portland has been in first place in the Pacific Division this late in the season since 1984, when the Blazers and Lakers were tied for the lead after 45 games.

Detroit 112, Atlanta 95--James Edwards and the Pistons came to town early and formed their game plan while watching the Hawks lose to the Chicago Bulls on television 24 hours earlier.

“We wanted to get our running game going because we knew they weren’t getting back on defense,” Edwards said after scoring 20 points. “They weren’t getting back again tonight. I’m sure having to play last night was the reason for them getting tired. They got down and quit a little bit.”

Joe Dumars finished with 18 points and Isiah Thomas and Mark Aguirre had 16 each for the Pistons.

Orlando 129, Indiana 111--The expansion Magic, which has the best last-place record in the NBA (13-30), gave their home fans something more to build on when Sam Vincent became their first player to record a triple-double.

It was the first triple-double in his five-year career for Vincent, who had 21 points, 11 rebounds and 17 assists.

“I’ve been playing consistently with my shooting and assists,” Vincent said. “We talked about maintaining the intensity all through the game.”

Milwaukee 109, Sacramento 102--Jack Sikma and Brad Lohaus spurred a 15-4 fourth-quarter run with three-pointers and Jay Humphries scored 13 points in the final period for the Bucks.

Cleveland 106, Miami 94--Brad Daugherty, the Cavaliers’ leading scorer and rebounder last season, played his first game and scored seven points in 15 minutes.

Phoenix 120, New Jersey 95--The Nets lost their sixth consecutive game and 10th in a row on the road despite Sam Bowie’s 16 points and 15 from Joe Barry Carroll, who went past the 12,000-point mark in his nine-year NBA career.