NBA Roundup : Barkley Lives It Up on Erving’s Birthday

The Philadelphia 76ers have been celebrating lately. On Wednesday, it was Charles Barkley’s birthday, and Moses Malone took the occasion to score 38 points and grab 24 rebounds in a romp over Golden State.

It was only right that Friday night, on Julius Erving’s 35th birthday, that the bulky Barkley stole the show.

The 22-year-old rookie forward had his biggest night of the season, scoring 29 points and grabbing 18 rebounds at Philadelphia to lead the 76ers to a 110-99 victory over the crippled Detroit Pistons.

The Pistons, who have been hurting for most of the last month, welcomed back Dan Roundfield, but their star, Isiah Thomas, joined Kelly Tripucka on the sidelines with a thigh injury.

Erving, in his 15th season as a pro, wasn’t exactly a bystander. He scored 19 points and had 10 rebounds while playing only 29 minutes to help the 76ers remain just one-half game behind the Boston Celtics in the Atlantic Division.

But the night belonged to Barkley, an imposing figure at 6-6 and, at least, 270 pounds. After the Pistons rushed off to a nine-point lead in the first quarter, Barkley took over. His 16 points and 10 rebounds enabled the 76ers to forge ahead at halftime. They widened the lead to 25 points midway through the last quarter.

Coach Billy Cunningham conceded that Barkley had a good game but indicated he expects more from his rookie.

“I’ll probably never be happy with Charles,” he said. “He has great athletic ability and he wants to be a star, but we have to keep pushing him.”

Golden State 131, New Jersey 127--Purvis Short scored 35 points, and Mickey Johnson, despite a sore hamstring, scored 10 in the last 3:25 as the Warriors ended a 13-game road losing streak. It was only their third win away from home in 26 games this season.

The Nets, who had 32 points from Otis Birdsong and 30 from Darryl Dawkins, built a 76-62 halftime lead before the Warriors rallied.

Boston 115, Chicago 105--Dennis Johnson held talented rookie Michael Jordan in check long enough for Larry Bird to lead the Celtics to the victory at Hartford, Conn., extending the Bulls’ losing streak on the road to 11 games.

Bird had 34 points and 8 rebounds, doing most of his work in the first three quarters as the Celtics took an 86-70 lead. Jordan scored 15 of his 26 points in the last quarter, and the Bulls momentarily cut the lead to four points.

Seattle 133, Denver 122--The SuperSonics ran off 18 points in a row early in the second period at Seattle and easily ended the Nuggets’ five-game winning streak.

The Sonics built a 28-point lead by halftime. They scored 46 points in the second quarter, only one point less than Denver had in the entire half.

Dallas 110, Washington 101--Mark Aguirre scored 45 points at Dallas, but it was the Mavericks’ defense that turned the tide by holding the Bullets scoreless for the last 3:32.

The Bullets’ last basket, a jumper by Cliff Robinson, tied the score at 101-101. Sam Perkins made a three-point play. As it turned out, that was more than enough for the Mavericks.

Utah 102, Cleveland 98--Thurl Bailey had his second big game in a row to lead the Jazz to its fourth consecutive road victory. Bailey, who scored eight points in overtime Wednesday night at New Jersey, scored 27 points, including six in a row after the Cavaliers forged an 85-85 tie in the fourth quarter.

The Jazz won only five of its first 23 road games.

Houston 117, Portland 103--Rookie Akeem Olajuwon had 35 points and 10 rebounds at Houston to lead the Rockets to the victory that enabled them to pull within 1 1/2 games of Denver in the Midwest Division.

Olajuwon and Rodney McCray each scored 12 points in the third quarter as the Rockets stretched a six-point lead to 92-76.

New York 113, Atlanta 105--Bernard King scored 35 points and had 11 rebounds at Atlanta to help the Knicks end a five-game losing streak.

The Knicks took the lead for good late in the second quarter and built a 19-point margin.

San Antonio 118, Phoenix 111--George Gervin scored 32 points at Phoenix to lead the Spurs and become the ninth player to score 25,000 points.