The Team of the Month Keeps Going in Atlanta

It was quite a weekend for the NBA’s best team. Quite a month, for that matter.

Dikembe Mutombo scored 22 points Sunday and the Atlanta Hawks, shooting a season-high 57% from the field, cruised past the San Antonio Spurs, 108-96, giving them a franchise-record 13 victories in November.

Atlanta, eclipsing its previous record of 12 victories for the month, has won three in a row and has the NBA’s best record, 14-2. The Hawks began the weekend with a 98-80 rout of Charlotte.

“We’re on a roll,” said Christian Laettner, who added 18 points as Atlanta’s big men held their own against San Antonio’s twin towers, David Robinson and Tim Duncan. “You usually don’t beat two good teams like Charlotte and San Antonio back-to-back by such large margins. It was two easy wins.”

The Hawks were never threatened by a Spurs team that arrived in Atlanta at 3 a.m. after defeating Dallas the previous night at San Antonio.

Atlanta led, 24-10, with two minutes remaining in the first quarter after Mutombo hit a hook shot, and the Spurs got no closer than 34-28 on Sean Elliott’s 15-foot jumper with 7:06 left in the second period.

The Hawks then pulled away with a 14-3 run sparked by their bench. Eldrige Recasner and Ed Gray each scored four points during the spurt. Another reserve, Chucky Brown, was one of five Atlanta players in double figures, with a season-best 14 points.

The Hawks led, 60-45, at halftime and built the lead as high as 26 points before San Antonio closed with some meaningless baskets at the end.

Robinson scored 23 points to lead the Spurs, and Duncan added 20. But the duo was canceled out by Mutombo and Laettner, who were barely outscored (43-40) and outrebounded (16-14) even though Laettner played only 27 minutes.

Indiana 101, Philadelphia 89--Rik Smits has season highs of 25 points and five blocked shots and Mark Jackson had a season-high 14 assists as the Pacers defeated the 76ers and spoiled Coach Larry Brown’s return to Indianapolis.

Brown, who resigned as Indiana’s coach after finishing 39-43 last season, saw his current team shoot poorly in the first half to trail, 44-33, at the break. The 76ers shot only 36% from the field and missed seven of eight free throws.

Indiana had its most productive period of the season when it scored 33 points in the third quarter to build a 22-point advantage.

Jalen Rose also had a season high for the Pacers, scoring 11 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter when Indiana fought off a late charge.

Both teams had five players in double figures. Jerry Stackhouse was high scorer for the 76ers with 21.

It was Indiana’s sixth consecutive victory over Philadelphia, although Brown was on the Pacer bench for the first five.

Allen Iverson scored in double figures for the 38th consecutive game, but was only six of 18 and finished with 13 points.

Seattle 103, Orlando 81--Vin Baker scored all 21 of his points in the first half as the SuperSonics built a big early lead at Seattle and rolled to their seventh consecutive victory.

The Magic had won seven of its previous eight games, but the Sonics dominated and led by 20 points midway through the second period. Orlando cut its deficit to single digits only once the rest of the way.

Hersey Hawkins had 16 points and seven rebounds and Dale Ellis had 13 points. Derek Strong led Orlando with 15 points.

Penny Hardaway, Orlando’s leading scorer at 19.9, was held to 13 points on four-for-11 shooting in a matchup against Gary Payton, who had 11 points and nine assists.

Vancouver 97, Detroit 95--The Grizzlies completed a sweep of the season series when Grant Hill missed two foul shots with 2.1 seconds left at Auburn Hills, Mich.

Antonio Daniels hit a short running jumper with 3.1 seconds left to break a tie, and Shareef Abdur-Rahim fouled Hill on the inbounds pass. But Hill missed the first free throw, and no one could gain control after he intentionally missed the second.

The victory was Vancouver’s second in 11 road games this season. Detroit lost for the 11th time in its last 15 games, including a 104-96 overtime loss at Vancouver on Nov. 9.

Detroit (6-11) had never lost to the Grizzlies before this season.

Abdur-Rahim led Vancouver with 19 points, Reeves had 17 and Otis Thorpe had 15 points and 10 rebounds. Williams led Detroit with 26, Hunter had 22 and Hill had 20 on seven-for-22 shooting.

New Jersey 87, Sacramento 73--Kendall Gill scored 18 of his 26 points in the first half as the Nets built an early lead at Sacramento and coasted past the Kings.

The Nets (10-5), who began the season with four consecutive victories, moved into a first-place tie with Miami and New York atop the Atlantic Division.

Kerry Kittles finished with 18 points for the Nets, who forced 21 turnovers that led to 24 points. Sam Cassell had 10 points and 11 assists.

Sacramento, which lost its third in a row, never got going offensively, scoring fewer than 20 points in each of the first three quarters.

The outside shooting of Gill combined with a solid defensive effort helped the Nets open a 48-33 halftime lead. The Kings never led again after scoring the game’s first basket.

Mitch Richmond led Sacramento with 16 points. Billy Owens had 13 points and 16 rebounds.