European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 11, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday april 11, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 25 deflate lakers 102-94 a Detroit s John Salley and Philadelphia s Johnny Dawkins go head to head Over a Loose Ball during the pistons 86-71 Victory Over the 76ers on wednesday in  by the associated press Inglewood Calif. Sean Elliott scored a season High 33 Points and Terry Cummings had 22 Points and 12 rebounds As the san Antonio spurs withstood a late surge to defeat the los Angeles lakers 102-94 thursday night. With the defeat the lakers fell one half game behind the Houston rockets for the eighth and final Western conference playoff berth. The rockets Defeated Minnesota 107-102. Cummings tip in gave the spurs an 8878 Lead with 8 39 left before the lakers closed to 90-86 with an 8-2 run capped by Sedale threatts 17-foot jumper with 5 39 remaining. With 2 05 left Terry Teagle who finished As the lakers leading scorer with 18 Points hit a Short jumper to pull los Angeles to 94-92, the closest margin since late in the second Quarter. However Threatt missed a shot that would have tied the game with 1 38 remaining and Elliott responded with a Dunk eight seconds later As the spurs began to pull away again. In other games thursday rockets 117, Timber wolves 102 Minneapolis Hakeem Olariu won scored 26 Points and sparked a 23-9 fourth Quarter run with a backboard shaking Jam As Houston Defeated Minnesota for its fourth consecutive Victory. Otis Thorpe had 24 Points and 13 rebounds for the rockets now in eighth place in the Western conference. A a backups sleepy Floyd and Avery Johnson also played a major role after Point guard Kenny Smith  return from an ankle injury sustained late in the first half. Floyd scored 19 Points including two fourth Quarter 3-Pomters Johnson ran the offence finishing with seven assists. Pooh Richardson and Thurl Bailey scored 21 Points apiece but combined for Only one Point in the fourth period As the Timber wolves lost for the 18th time in 21  141, hornets 134 Richfield Ohio a Larry Nance had his second career triple double and Steve Kerr scored a career High 23 Points As Cleveland clinched Home court advantage through two rounds of the playoffs by defeating Charlotte. The combined Point total matched the highest Ever for two teams in a regulation game at the coliseum. The Cavaliers won for the 13th time in 14 Home games and sealed the second Best record in the Eastern conference behind Chicago. The hornets who lost for the fourth time in five games have never won in eight trips to Richfield. Nance had 26 Points 10 rebounds and a career High 14 assists for his first triple double As a Cav. He had one for Phoenix in 1985.nhl by Ken Rappoport new York a the talks Are Back on and the nil season Isnit off a yet. The nil reopened talks with the striking players Union thursday in an attempt to save the Stanley cup playoffs. In doing so the league allowed its season ending deadline to pass. A spokesman for the nil players association said that executive director Bob Goodenow was on his Way to new York to meet with nil president John Ziegler on Friday. It will be the first time they have talked since tuesday when the owners gave the players a take it or leave it contract offer. The owners set a 3 . Edt deadline for thursday to respond or they the hornets had four players with 20 or More Points Kendall Gill with 29, and Larry Jonnson Dell Curry and Kenny Gattison with 20 each. Mike Sanders joined Kerr with 23  96, Hawks 94 Orlando Fla. Scott Skiles 17-foot jumper with 1 30 remaining put Orlando m front and the magic held Atlanta scoreless the rest of the game. The Hawks were held to 13 Points in the fourth Quarter. The loss dropped them into eighth place in the Eastern conference Only one game ahead of Miami for the final playoff berth. Atlanta led by As Many As 13 Points on three occasions but the Hawks hit Only five of 23 shots in the final period allowing the magic to rally. Stacey Augmon scored 22 Points and would cancel the remainder of the season and the playoffs. The players immediately rejected the offer and the owners left it on the table up until the last minute. Finally the nil let the deadline pass with just a Short statement from Ziegler. A a in a obliged to report that the no la a final offer was not accepted by the  upon expiration of the Date and time established for its acceptance thursday 3 . Edt a Ziegler said. Ziegler added that the owners offer was taken off the table. The players did the same thing with their final offer earlier in the week. Ziegler set the deadline so that if the players accepted the owners offer they could report to their teams by Friday and Kevin Willis had 21 Points and 15 rebounds for the Hawks. Terry Catledge led the magic with 18 Points and 16  106, Trail blazers 100 los Angeles a Danny Manning scored 34 Points including a tie breaking Hook shot with 26 seconds remaining pacing los Angeles Over Portland. Manning a Basket came after Terry porters two free throws tied the score 100-100 with 38 seconds remaining. Porter scored 15 of his 30 Points in the fourth Quarter when the Trail blazers rallied from an 81-65 deficit. Portland scored 15 consecutive Points in the third Quarter to Trail just 65-63, but Manning scored nine of his 12 third Quarter Points in a 16-2 spurt that rebuilt the margin to 16 going into the final 12 resume the season by sunday. All but 30 of the seasons games were played before the no la called the first league wide hockey strike in history on april 1, in the midst of the no la a 75th anniversary season. After spending 3vi hours on a conference Call with the Board of governors on thursday Ziegler said that he has also had been in touch with Goodenow by phone. A emr. Goodenow and i have communicated a Ziegler said in a statement. A we Are to have further communications through the course of the evening and Early morning. At this time there is nothing specific or further that i can  a the current status of the owner player negotiation is that or. Goodenow withdrew the nil pay a final offer april minutes. Ron Harper scored 26 Points for the clippers who Lead eighth place Houston by two games and the nth place los Angeles lakers by 2vi in the Western conference playoff race. The clippers who have 21 of 30 games under coach Larry Brown have not made the playoffs since the franchise was located in Buffalo in 1976.Kings 124, nuggets 107 Sacramento Calif. Lionel Simmons had 32 Points and 12 rebounds and Sacramento handed Denver its ninth straight loss. Trailing 79-77, the Kings used a 11-0 run spanning the end of the third Quarter and the Start of the fourth period for an 88-79 Cushion with 10 57 left. Randy Brown scored four straight baskets during the Kings spurt. The Victory was the Kings 26th of the season one More than last season. Sacramento has not reached the playoffs since the 1985-86 season its inaugural Campaign in Northern California. Marcus Liberty scored a career High 25 k ints and grabbed 10 rebounds for the nuggets who remained win less in april. Reggie Williams scored 21 Points for the  113, Mavericks 90 Salt Lake City Karl Malone scored 28 Points in 28 minutes and Jeff Malone had 26 Points As Utah clinched its first Midwest division title since 1989 with a Victory Over Dallas. The 50th Victory of the season for the jazz left them five games ahead of san Antonio with five games to play. Utah won the season series 3-1 Over the spurs who edged the jazz by one game the last two seasons. Herb Williams scored 20 Points for the Mavericks who lost their 26th consecutive Road game and 19th of 21 outings Overall. Utah a 12-2 run at the Start of the second half stretched its 13-Point halftime Lead to 67-44. Jeff Malone scored 16 Points in the third period on 5 for 7 shooting from the Field and 6 for 6 from the line boosting the jazz to a 90-64  119, suns 104 Seattle Nate Mcmillan had 14 Points 12 assists and six steals As Seattle cat Phoenix for its fifth straight Victory. In a preview of a possible first round playoff series the sonics led 90-72 after three quarters and opened the fourth Quarter with a 16-4 spurt for a 106-76 advantage with 6 58 left. Shawn Kemp had 17 Points and 14 rebounds for Seattle which stayed even with san Antonio in the Western conference standings. Dan Majerle scored 25 Points and Steve Burtt a career High 23 for the suns who fell 114 games behind Golden state in the conference playoff race. 7, 1992. The owners final offer expired at 3 . This Date and was formally  Ziegler left his office immediately after his conference Call with the governors leaving the rest of the talking to spokesman Bill Wilkerson. During a news conference Wilkerson was evasive. Asked if the deadline to cancel the season had been extended Wilkerson said a it has not been extended. The owners offer has been formally withdrawn at this  Wilkerson  say whether the season had been cancelled. A they Goodenow and Ziegler Are human beings a he said. A something has to happen for offers to come Back on the table or for players to  Aba owners make bid to save playoffs