First Half Fire Not Enough For Denver

April 15, 1998 / 1:14 AM EDT / CBS/AP

The Denver Nuggets threw a first half scare into the Houston Rockets and that might have been their worst mistake.

Mario Elie scored 23 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter, as the Houston Rockets overcame a 14-point halftime deficit to beat the Denver Nuggets 94-88 Tuesday night.

Hakeem Olajuwon finished with 13 points, 18 rebounds, eight assists and six blocks and Clyde Drexler had 16 points to drop the Nuggets to 2-37 on the road.

"It (first half) was utterly pathetic," Drexler said. "But at the half nothing was said. I think everyone knew what had to be done. That's the great thing about having a veteran team, you know what you have to do."

Elie hit two technical foul shots in a 9-2 run that gave Houston an 83-76 lead with 5:06 left. The first came with 5:47 left when Danny Fortson was ejected by referee Dee Kantner and another at 5:02 when Nuggets coach Bill Hanzlik was whistled for a technical.

"I saw it and I don't think he deserved to be thrown out," Hanzlik said. "I don't know exactly what the call was but that hurt us. We had trouble scoring anyway without Johnny (Newman) and without Danny we really had problems."

Newman, the Nuggets' leading scorer, missed the game to attend the funeral of a family friend.

Elie was glad to get the game over.

"I just wanted to play and get ready for the playoffs but, unfortunately, it looked like it was the end of the season and we were just going through the motions," Elie said. "That second quarter was ugly but we regrouped at the half."

LaPhonso Ellis and Cory Alexander led the Nuggets with 22 points each and Bobby Jackson finished with 16.

Denver, which has lost six in a row to the Rockets, stunned Houston with a 14-0 run to start the second quarter to take a 53-39 halftime lead, keyed by 12 second-quarter points by Jackson.

"We played a great first half," Hanzlik said. "Then we came out flat in the third quarter and couldn't make a shot. It was almost nine minutes before we got our legs back under us."

The Rockets used a 16-0 run to start the third quarter to take a 55-53 lead. But the Nuggets responded and led 72-65 entering the fourth.

Houston took the lead for good when Olajuwon made two free throws to break a 74-74 tie with 8:21 to go and start the game-winning run. The Rockets made nine free throws in a 9-2 run to lead 83-76 with 5:06 left.

"It was a game of runs, what a see saw battle," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "We came out real strong and then we went cold. Then it got real ugly by the end of the second quarter."

Denver hit 10 of 19 second quarter shots while the Rockets didn't get a basket until Eddie Johnson's jumper with 6:40 to go in the half.

The Rocketmissed their first seven shots of the second quarter and hit only five of 20 for the period and had only 11 points in the quarter.

Notes: Before the game, the Rockets placed Charles Barkley on the injured list with a strained left groin. Barkley will also miss the Rockets final two games. Matt Bullard was activated to take Barkley's place. ... The victory clinched the Rockets' 14th straight winning season, second longest active streak behind Utah's 15 seasons. The NBA record is 19 by the Boston Celtics (1950-1969). ... Eddie Johnson played in his 1,194th NBA game, moving into eighth place ahead of Alex English on the NBA's list of career appearances. ... The overall series between the two teams is tied at 54-54.