Hoop Scoop

After getting off to a sluggish start and hearing catcalls from the Madison Square Garden fans, Allan Houston has begun to show why the Knicks gave him a seven-year, $56 million free-agent contract last summer. Houston, a 6'6" guard, has found his shooting stroke, averaging 22.2 points over his last six games, and has played solid defense (he helped limit Pacers guard Reggie Miller to three points in the fourth quarter of New York's 89-80 win on Sunday). He says he just needed to gain the confidence of his teammates, particularly center Patrick Ewing. "Earlier in the season Patrick wanted to force things offensively because he didn't know me," Houston says. "Now if Patrick doesn't get a good look, he passes it out. That's made us a much better team." Apparently so. At week's end the Knicks had won 28 of their last 36 games....

In a two-game stretch earlier this month, Hornets guard Muggsy Bogues connected on six three-point shots. That's as many three-pointers as Bogues has made in any season during his 10-year career....

Earlier this month Lakers guard Nick Van Exel boasted that he would buy every Seattle player a gift worth less than $100 if L.A. didn't win the Pacific Division. Now that Shaquille O'Neal may be out for the rest of the regular season with a hyperextended left knee, the Sonics are checking their shopping lists. "All I know is I want something that costs $99.99," guard Gary Payton says....

After Bernie Bickerstaff left his position as the Nuggets' president to become the Bullets' coach on Feb. 10, Denver G.M. Todd Eley was shown the door. His firing could undermine the Nuggets' efforts to sign their '96 first-round pick, 6'11" Efthimios Rentzias. Eley had been the team's sole contact with Rentzias throughout the negotiations....

While seated on the bench late in Utah's 110-86 home win over the Blazers last Thursday, Jazz forward Karl Malone turned to a fan in the stands and began arguing that the state should lower its income taxes. The recipient of the Mailman's advice? Gov. Michael Leavitt....

Forward Loy Vaught leads the Clippers in scoring with 13.8 points per game. The lowest scoring average to lead a team in the 42 seasons since the advent of the shot clock is Bobby Wanzer's 13.1, which topped the Rochester (N. Y.) Royals in 1954-55....

Frustrated that center Vlade Divac (18 points, 12 blocks, nine rebounds) was having trouble hunting down the final board he needed for a triple double in Charlotte's 113-100 win over the Nets on Feb. 12, Hornets coach Dave Cowens turned to the scorers' table and said, "Just give him the rebound; we're at home." Alas, Divac fouled out before he could get (or be given) one....

The Rockets' Charles Barkley wasn't surprised that fans at Gund Arena booed Malone at the Feb. 9 All-Star Game after Malone was quoted as saying he wanted to get out of Cleveland as fast as possible. "He sounds like he's from the South of France or something," Barkley cracked. "He lives in Utah and he bad-mouths Cleveland? That's what happens when a brother gets too much money." ...Several NBA scouts are calling Texas Tech forward Tony Battie the rising star in this year's thin college draft pool. A 6'11" junior, Battie is likely to be a lottery selection if he decides to leave school early....

Warriors guard Latrell Sprewell, never bashful about shooting, has a new nickname: World B. Spree.