Jazz Closes Deficit to Beat Nuggets

SALT LAKE CITY (Reuter) - Jeff Hornacek's three-pointer with 41 seconds to play gave Utah the lead for good as the Jazz rallied from a 34-point halftime deficit Wednesday night to record an improbable 107-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets, extending their winning streak to eight games.

Utah trailed 70-36 at halftime before outscoring the Nuggets 71-33 in the second half. It is the largest rally from a halftime deficit since Philadelphia came from 27 points down to defeat Boston in March 1988.

Bryant Stith's seventh three-pointer gave Denver its last lead, 101-100, with 59 seconds left. But Hornacek drilled a jumper from the top of the key to put the Jazz ahead for good and prevent Nuggets coach Dick Motta from earning his second win in as many games since taking over for Bernie Bickerstaff on Tuesday.

Karl Malone scored 31 points and Hornacek added 29 for Utah, which improved to 10-2 and has won six straight home games.

Stith finished with 31 points and Dale Ellis added 25 for the Nuggets, who have lost five of their last six.

In Atlanta, Nick Anderson hit three three-pointers in a 2:07 span of the fourth quarter and Rony Seikaly scored 16 points Wednesday night as the undermanned Orlando Magic squeaked past the Atlanta Hawks, 79-75, snapping their three-game winning streak.

Orlando, which improved to just 5-3 at home this season, won despite playing without starting point guard Penny Hardaway, starting forward Dennis Scott and reserve guard Gerald Wilkins, who are all out with injuries.

The Magic lost only four games at home last season.

Dikembe Mutombo scored 20 points and Tyrone Corbin added 19 for Atlanta, which had just 33 points in the second half and 12 in the fourth quarter.

In other NBA games:

At Phoenix, Wesley Person scored 22 points and sparked a key third-quarter run as the Phoenix Suns became the last NBA team to win a game, defeating the hapless New Jersey Nets, 99-77.

In a matchup of the worst teams in each conference, Phoenix snapped its franchise-record 13-game slide to open the season. Michael Finley had 18 points and Kevin Johnson added 17 as the Suns also gave Danny Ainge his first career coaching victory.

At Detroit, Lindsey Hunter had 24 points and Otis Thorpe added 17, including the 15,000th point of his career, as the Detroit Pistons continued their early-season success with an 87-78 defeat of the reeling Vancouver Grizzlies.

The Pistons, whose six-game winning streak was stopped Saturday in Charlotte, used a 23-3 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters to break open a tight game.

Grant Hill, who was forced to leave Saturday's game, had 15 points for Detroit, which has won 11 of its first 13 games.

Greg Anthony scored 24 points for the Grizzlies.

At Toronto, Walt Williams scored 23 points and Sharone Wright added 16 points and eight rebounds to help the Toronto Raptors snap a six-game losing streak with a a 92-88 victory over the Charlotte Hornets.

At Boston, Dana Barros and Antoine Walker hit consecutive three-pointers to ignite a key fourth-quarter run as the Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, 110-94, snapping their three-game road winning streak.

At Minnesota, Detlef Schrempf scored 27 points and Hersey Hawkins hit a key three-pointer at the end of the third quarter as the Seattle SuperSonics maintained their mastery of the Minnesota Timberwolves with a 106-98 victory.

At Milwaukee, Glenn Robinson and Vin Baker scored 22 points apiece as the Milwaukee Bucks snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Cleveland Cavaliers with a 92-75 victory.

At San Antonio, Kenny Anderson scored 25 points and Arvydas Sabonis added 23 as the Portland Trail Blazers used clutch free-throw shooting to hand the San Antonio Spurs their seventh straight loss, 120-109.