NBA Roundup : Thomas, Dantley Lead Pistons’ 103-99 Win

The Central Division, once the property of the Milwaukee Bucks, is becoming one of the most interesting.

Early in the season, the Atlanta Hawks threatened to make a runaway of it. Then, the Bucks made their move and appeared to be ready to take charge.

Now, the Detroit Pistons, almost left at the gate, have zoomed into contention to make it a three-team race. Since winning only three of their first nine, the Pistons have played the best ball in the division.

Isiah Thomas and Adrian Dantley keyed a late rally Tuesday night at Milwaukee that carried the Pistons to a 103-99 victory over the Bucks.

The Pistons’ 14th win in the last 17 games put them into second place, 2 1/2 games behind Atlanta. It was the third loss in a row for the Bucks.

With less than two minutes to play, the Bucks held a 95-92 lead. But Thomas scored on a layup, and Dantley tied it on a free throw after Terry Cummings of the Bucks was given a technical foul.

Another layup by Thomas put Detroit ahead for good, and Dantley added two more free throws to clinch it.

Dantley finished with 25 points, and Thomas had 14 points and 10 assists.

New York 103, Washington 97--The Knicks continue to make good use of former Coach Hubie Brown’s theories. First, they tightened their defense. Next, they started playing their two big men, Patrick Ewing and Bill Cartwright at the same time.

Those where things Brown contended they had to do to win.

Cartwright scored 23 of his 27 points in the first half at New York, but it was Gerald Wilkins, who scored 12 points in the fourth quarter to assure the Knicks their fourth win in a row. Ewing and Cartwright have both started the last five games. The Knicks had won only five of their first 26.

Golden State 102, Chicago 99--The Warriors held Michael Jordan to 31 points at Chicago--and when the NBA’s leading scorer missed on a three-point shot at the buzzer, Golden State ended a three-game losing streak.

Jordan had made two three-pointers early in the fourth quarter to help the Bulls cut into an 83-71 Warrior lead.

Boston 104, Seattle 102--Larry Bird scored 12 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, including a 15-foot jump shot with two seconds remaining to give the Celtics the win at Seattle.

Boston, which won its fourth straight game, rallied from a 17-point deficit midway through the third period and closed the deficit to 80-78 going into the fourth.

Indiana 111, Cleveland 99--Wayman Tisdale scored 22 points and had 13 rebounds at Indianapolis as the Pacers escaped the cellar in the Central Division.

Rookie forward Chuck Person had 23 points and 8 rebounds for the Pacers. It was the 799th NBA win for Coach Jack Ramsay of the Pacers.

San Antonio 115, Utah 109--Mychal Thompson scored 14 of his season-high 29 points in the fourth quarter at San Antonio as the Spurs ended a six-game losing streak and knocked the Jazz out of first place in the Midwest Division.

Philadelphia 111, Denver 108--Julius Erving, in his regular-season farewell to Denver, scored 7 of the 76ers’ last 13 points and blocked a layup by Lafayette Lever with seven seconds left to save the victory.

Alex English scored 17 of his 36 points in the last quarter to rally the Nuggets.

Charles Barkley had 29 points and 13 rebounds for the 76ers.

Portland 120, Phoenix 105--Kiki Vandeweghe scored 12 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter at Portland to assure the Trail Blazers of the victory.