Thirty-One Has Become Jones’ Favorite Flavor

Eddie Jones’ new lucky number is 31.

Jones scored 31 points for the third time in four games as the Miami Heat beat the hapless Washington Wizards, 98-91, Friday night at Miami to run its winning streak to four.

“Maybe I should play that number [in the lottery],” said Jones.

Jones, who shot 12 for 19, scored eight points in the final 3:08 of the fourth quarter, which featured eight lead changes.

Tim Hardaway added 25 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter. Miami’s starting guards were five for eight from the field in the fourth quarter.

Washington, which lost its sixth in a row, played without point guard Rod Strickland, who was serving a one-game suspension for violating several team rules. Filling in for Strickland, Chris Whitney had 16 points and six assists but injured his right ankle in the closing seconds and limped off the court.

“Chris is a professional,” Wizard Coach Leonard Hamilton said. “He steps up when he’s called upon. He did an outstanding job running our club. I hope his injury is nothing serious.”

Portland 104, Vancouver 81--Arvydas Sabonis scored a season-high 20 points as the Trail Blazers won at Portland, Ore.

The Trail Blazers won their fourth consecutive game despite the absence of guard Steve Smith, who was sidelined by flu. Bonzi Wells scored 14 points in his first career start and Rasheed Wallace had 14.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 29 points in 36 minutes for the Grizzlies but did not play in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach.

Portland broke open the game early in the third as Damon Stoudamire made two free throws and a three-pointer, and Scottie Pippen made a three-pointer and found Dale Davis on an alley-oop dunk that gave the Blazers a 55-39 lead with 9:43 left in the quarter.

Golden State 100, Utah 89--Larry Hughes had 20 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds at Oakland as the Warriors ended a 17-game losing streak against the Jazz.

The Warriors’ string of losses to Utah was the longest between any two teams in the NBA. Golden State hadn’t beaten the Jazz since April 14, 1996.

Mookie Blaylock and Marc Jackson also had 20 points apiece for Golden State, which shot 53% but wasn’t spectacular until a 32-point fourth quarter.

Instead, the Jazz lost its third in a row by playing one of its worst games of the season, starting with a subpar effort from Karl Malone.

Utah missed its first seven shots, scored only eight points in the first quarter on four-of-22 shooting and trailed, 38-29, at halftime.

Utah’s first quarter was the worst by any opponent in the Warriors’ history.

Malone scored only 12 points on five-of-17 shooting. Bryon Russell scored 19 points for the Jazz, which fell into a tie with Dallas for the Midwest Division lead.

New York 95, Chicago 68--Latrell Sprewell scored a season-high 32 points, Glen Rice had 20 and Kurt Thomas 18 at New York.

Sprewell had 30 points after three quarters. He scored 11 points in the first quarter as the Knicks took a 27-22 lead and added 13 points in the second as New York built a 55-36 halftime advantage.

Allan Houston’s streak of 258 consecutive games ended when he missed the game because of a stomach virus.

Houston’s streak was the seventh-longest among active players in the NBA. He did not take part in the Knicks’ shootaround Friday morning and did not attend the game.

Cleveland 97, Atlanta 85--Lamond Murray scored 22 points and Andre Miller had 19 at Atlanta as the Cavaliers ended a five-game losing streak.

Miller left the game with 9:52 to go in the third after hitting his head on the floor as he fouled Jason Terry. Miller returned with two stitches above his forehead and made a three-point shot with 2:22 remaining that gave Cleveland a 91-80 lead.

Around the League

The Washington Wizards activated forward Popeye Jones and put Laron Profit on the injured list. Jones, 30, hasn’t played since breaking the index finger on his left hand during Washington’s season opener, Oct. 31 against Orlando.