NBA ROUNDUP : The Heat Is On in Fourth Win in a Row, 111-91

There is jubilation in Miami. In its fourth season in the NBA, the Heat is no longer an expansion team.

Center Rony Seikaly, a Heat original, is a key reason the team is off to its best start.

Seikaly had 23 points and 17 rebounds Tuesday night at Miami to lead the Heat to a 111-91 victory over the Utah Jazz. It was the fourth victory in a row for the Heat, and its 6-2 record leads the Eastern Conference.

How much has the Heat improved? In the first three seasons, it never won its sixth game before its 23rd game.

True, the Jazz was playing its fourth road game in six nights and appeared to be a bit weary.

Nevertheless, Miami Coach Kevin Loughery was exuberant.

“This is as good as we can play,” he said. “It’s as good as a lot of teams can play. We played such good defense and the ball movement was sensational. It was fun to watch.”

Utah Coach Jerry Sloan dismissed any idea his team was tired.

“They outdefended us and outrebounded us (43-34),” he said. “They outhustled us and beat us in every area.”

A 14-4 run late in the first quarter put the Heat in front, 32-22, and the lead steadily widened. Seikaly had eight rebounds in the first quarter.

“I’m kind of surprised we’re 6-2, but I thought from Day 1 that we had a good team,” Seikaly said.

Houston 90, New York 79--Early last season, the Knicks had trouble winning at home but did very well on the road. Under new Coach Pat Riley, it is just the opposite.

With Hakeem Olajuwon scoring 12 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter at Houston, the Knicks lost their fifth in a row on the road. The Knicks are 4-0 at home.

Patrick Ewing had 19 points to lead the Knicks, but no teammate had more than 12 points.

The Knicks, who shot only 36% from the field, never scored more than 22 points in any quarter.

It was the ninth consecutive game in which the Rockets held the opposition under 100 points in the regulation 48 minutes.

New Jersey 122, Sacramento 118--Somebody had to win at East Rutherford, N.J. The Kings had lost 40 road games in succession; the Nets had lost seven games in a row, including all four home games this season.

The Kings, trailing by eight after three quarters, rallied to take a 102-99 lead four minutes into the last quarter. But they couldn’t sustain the rally.

Mitch Richmond of the Kings led all scorers with 32 points. Sam Bowie led the Nets with 27 points but was impressed by the Kings.

“They played hard and we were fortunate to win,” he said.

Net Coach Bill Fitch disagreed. “We deserved to win,” he said. “We’ve got to be the best 2-7 team in the league.”

Fitch is right. The Nets are the only 2-7 team in the NBA.

Seattle 113, Washington 106--Former All-Star center Ralph Sampson and No. 1 draft choice LaBradford Smith made their debut as Bullets at Landover, Md., but in a losing cause.

Michael Cage had 20 points and 20 rebounds for the second time in a week to lead the SuperSonics (6-3) to their third victory in a row.

Sampson, trying to make a comeback, played seven minutes and missed his only shot. Smith played five minutes and missed three shots.

Milwaukee 127, Charlotte 104--Dale Ellis scored 11 points in a row to trigger a 41-point third quarter at Milwaukee that enabled the Bucks to break the game open.

Moses Malone had 23 points and eight rebounds in 26 minutes for the Bucks.

Dallas 96, Denver 93--Rolando Blackman, a 6-6 guard, started at forward and led the Mavericks to their third victory in a row. It was only the Nuggets’ second loss at home.

Blackman had 18 points in 33 minutes.