Bats in the belfry and 13-game losing streaks end

<br>HOUSTON (AP) _ On a goofy night when two 13-game streaks ended in the NBA, one of the 11 games was delayed by a swooping bat. <br><br>While the Golden State Warriors were on the way to snapping a 13-game

Saturday, March 9th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

HOUSTON (AP) _ On a goofy night when two 13-game streaks ended in the NBA, one of the 11 games was delayed by a swooping bat.

While the Golden State Warriors were on the way to snapping a 13-game road losing streak with a 108-95 victory at Houston on Friday, a bat came out of the rafters and buzzed Rockets guard Moochie Norris.

Play resumed after a five-minute delay as the bat continued to strafe the floor. It eventually was netted by a ballboy during a timeout promotion in which some children were shooting baskets.

``This happened to us in San Antonio,'' Warriors guard Jason Richardson said, referring to a game earlier this week when a bat also made it on the court. ``Maybe the bats are following us.''

The ballboy released the bat unharmed outside the arena. Unfortunately for the Rockets, they couldn't do the same with Richardson, who scored 32 points, or teammate Antawn Jamison, who added 27 for Golden State.

Meanwhile, Toronto ended its 13-game losing streak with an 83-74 victory over Miami despite a subpar performance by Vince Carter, who missed much of the first half because of foul trouble.

Antonio Davis scored 23 points for the Raptors. Carter, who played only six minutes in the first half after picking up three fouls, scored 16 points in 27 minutes.

Eddie Jones scored 22 points, and Alonzo Mourning added 16 for the Heat, who scored just 23 points in the second half.

Elsewhere in the NBA, it was Philadelphia 109, Indiana 100; Boston 117, Detroit 92; Orlando 99, Washington 96; Cleveland 115, Milwaukee 99 in overtime; the Los Angeles Clippers 94, Chicago 90; New York 85, Utah 79; Phoenix 81, Minnesota 76; Portland 82, New Jersey 73; and Sacramento 99, Charlotte 87.

After Houston narrowed Golden State's lead to 89-87 with 6:17 left, Richardson's jumper started an 11-2 run for the Warriors.

``It's been a long time,'' Richardson said. ``We played a good game and got a victory on the road. A big problem for us has been losing a lot of close games.''

Cuttino Mobley, who led Houston with 31, wouldn't cite back-to-back games for the Rockets' fade.

``We didn't play hard in the fourth quarter and didn't match their intensity,'' Mobley said.

Kings 99, Hornets 87

Peja Stojakovic scored 13 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, and Chris Webber had 20 points as Sacramento improved its home record to 29-3.

The Kings, the only team yet to lose three straight this season, snapped a two-game losing streak for the fifth time.

Lee Nailon had 18 points for Charlotte.

Trail Blazers 82, Nets 73

Bonzi Wells scored 21 points and Rasheed Wallace had 18 as Portland won its 12th straight game.

Kenyon Martin scored 19 points for New Jersey, which fell to 0-3 on a Western road trip that ends Saturday in Seattle.

Cavaliers 115, Bucks 109, OT

Andre Miller scored 31 points and played all 53 minutes as Cleveland beat Milwaukee in overtime.

Ricky Davis scored 21 points for the Cavs, including a jumper with 26.6 seconds left in overtime to give the Cavaliers a 111-107 lead.

Glenn Robinson led the Bucks with 30 points, and Ray Allen had 20.

Magic 99, Wizards 96

Tracy McGrady scored a career-high 50 points as host Orlando snapped a four-game losing streak.

McGrady, whose previous best was 49 points, broke a 96-all tie with 13 seconds to play. After the Wizards' Tyronn Lue missed a potential game-tying shot, McGrady reached 50 points with a free throw with 0.8 seconds left.

Washington, which lost for the ninth time in 11 games, had a second chance to tie, but Chris Whitney's 3-pointer at the buzzer was short.

76ers 109, Pacers 100

Allen Iverson broke the 40-point barrier for the fourth time in five games, scoring 41 in Philadelphia's victory over visiting Indiana.

Eric Snow added a season-high 25 for the Sixers, who won for the fifth time in six outings.

Jermaine O'Neal had 25 points for Indiana.

Clippers 94, Bulls 90

Michael Olowokandi scored a career-high 30 points, and Quentin Richardson had a huge basket down the stretch at Chicago.

Olowokandi also had 16 rebounds for the Clippers, while Richardson finished with 16 points. Elton Brand, playing his first-regular season game in Chicago since being traded last summer, added 15 points and 10 boards.

Suns 81, Timberwolves 76

Stephon Marbury scored 28 points and Minnesota star Kevin Garnett managed just four as Phoenix rallied to win.

Garnett was 2-for-17 from the field in 43 minutes as the Timberwolves dropped their third straight game.

Wally Szczerbiak scored 27 for the Timberwolves.

Knicks 85, Jazz 79

Latrell Sprewell had two steals and six of his 19 points in the last 2:29 as New York snapped a six-game road losing streak.

Sprewell made a pair of free throws with 10.7 seconds to play, giving New York an 83-79 lead. He then stole Bryon Russell's inbounds pass and made two more foul shots to seal the victory, the Knicks' first over the Jazz in the last nine meetings.

Allan Houston led New York with 20 points, and Kurt Thomas added 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Karl Malone led Utah with 25 points and 11 rebounds, but made only 11 of a season-high 29 shots.

Celtics 117, Pistons 92

Paul Pierce scored 31 points and Antoine Walker added 24, and both hit 3-pointers during a 16-3 run that lifted Boston over Detroit.

The Pistons lost for just the third time in 12 games and dropped their second road contest in the last 11.

Chucky Atkins led the Pistons with 17 points. Detroit's leading scorer, Jerry Stackhouse, was held to 12 points on 3-of-12 shooting.