NBA ROUNDUP : Ferrell Replaces Ailing Wilkins to Lead Hawks

Duane Ferrell came to play the role of Dominique Wilkins.

Replacing Atlanta’s ill leading scorer, he took a long pass from Mookie Blaylock and sank a key basket with 12 seconds left in overtime Tuesday night, lifting the Hawks to a 109-104 victory over the New York Knicks.

Wilkins started the game, despite beging told to stay in bed for 48 hours because of flu. He played only 26 minutes.

“Dominique was told yesterday to stay in bed 48 hours (because of flu), but he can’t count and he got here early,” coach Bob Weiss said. “It’s a tough decision to pull a guy of that quality, but Duane had it going when Dominique had to sit.”

“I didn’t think ‘Nique was going to play,” said Ferrell. “Actually, at the shootaround, he said that he wasn’t going to be able to play. So I tried to prepare myself with the mindset and just contribute.

“I knew I had to give us a good performance.”

Ferrell scored 17 points to Wilkins’ 16.

Kevin Willis led Atlanta to its 10th straight home victory with 29 points and 11 rebounds, while Blaylock had 20 points and 13 assists.

Ewing had 36 points and 12 rebounds for the Knicks.

Milwaukee 113, Chicago 109-- Blue Edwards scored 10 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Bucks defeat the Bulls for the first time in four tries this season.

Michael Jordan scored 30 points, including a basket and three-pointer during an 11-2 run late in the game at Milwaukee.

Orlando 116, Philadelphia 90--Shaquille O’Neal’s 35 points and 16 rebounds helped the Magic break a three-game losing streak in the game at Philadelphia.

O’Neal sank 17 of 23 shots from the field in his biggest scoring output in two months.

Rookie Clarence Weatherspoon led Philadelphia with 24 points and 11 rebounds.

Indiana 98, New Jersey 85--Reggie Miller scored 21 points to become Indiana’s leading NBA scorer.

Detlef Schrempf added 26 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.

With his first basket of the second half, Miller had 9,098 points, two more than Chuck Person scored before being traded to Minnesota in the offseason.

Detroit 91, Washington 79--Joe Dumars stayed on a hot streak with 38 points, leading Pistons past the Bullets in the game at Auburn Hills, Mich.

Harvey Grant scored 17 points for the Bullets.

Cleveland 115, Miami 100--The Cavaliers, playing at home, relied on their big men to beat the Heat, with Brad Daugherty scoring 20 points in the first half and Larry Nance 18 in the second.

Golden State 125, San Antonio 111--Tim Hardaway scored 18 of his 30 points in the decisive third quarter.

“I’m just in a groove,” he said. “My team was finding me and I was making shots. Once I’m in a groove, I’m hard to stop.”

Billy Owens and Latrell Sprewell were close to unstoppable too, both coming within one point of season highs. Owens finished with 29 points, while Sprewell had 26 for the injury-depleted Warriors.

David Robinson scored 28 points for the Spurs.

Portland 110, Utah 95--Terry Porter scored 25 points, including a 26-foot bank shot at the halftime buzzer, as the Trail Blazers beat the Jazz at Portland.

Karl Malone scored 25 for Utah. Jeff Malone added 18 points for the Jazz, while Cliff Robinson and Jerome Kersey scored 17 apiece for the Blazers.

Dallas 109, Seattle 107--The Mavericks took a major step toward avoiding the worst record in NBA history when Jimmy Jackson and Derek Harper sank two free throws apiece in the final 11 seconds to hold off the SuperSonics.

Denver 101, Sacramento 100-- Robert Pack scored the final points of the game on a dunk with 1:10 left and the Nuggets defeated the Kings when Walt Williams shot a 20-foot airball with two seconds left.

Chris Jackson scored 23 points for the Nuggets, who last beat the Kings in Sacramento on Dec. 26, 1990 before losing here four straight times.

After Mark Macon’s steal, Pack drove from midcourt for a dunk to produce the Nuggets’ final lead.

While the Kings faltered in the second quarter, Denver led by as many as 12 points. Sacramento, which was called for three technical fouls, including one against Coach Garry St. Jean, made only 14 of 24 free throws in the first half and committed seven turnovers in the second quarter.