NBA Roundup : Richardson Gets 36 Points in Win Over Celtics

Micheal Ray Richardson matched his season high of 36 points, and Buck Williams reached a rebounding milestone as the New Jersey Nets ended their regular season with five victories in six games by beating the Boston Celtics, 129-118, Sunday at Boston.

The Nets, who avoided a six-game season-series sweep by Boston, begin the playoffs Thursday night at Detroit. The Celtics, whose 63-19 record was the NBA’s best, play host to Cleveland the same night.

Williams grabbed 11 rebounds to become only the eighth player and second forward in NBA history to get at least 1,000 rebounds in each of his first four seasons. He had 1,005 this season.

Larry Bird and Kevin McHale each scored 23 points for Boston. Center Robert Parish sat out the game with a minor ankle injury and his replacement, Greg Kite, hit a career-high 14 points.

The Celtics’ record equaled their second-best mark in franchise history. Their best record was 68-14 in 1972-73.

Detroit 116, Cleveland 113--Isiah Thomas scored nine points in the fourth quarter, including a critical 20-foot jumper with 13 seconds to play, as the Pistons closed out the regular season with a win at Richfield, Ohio, their fifth straight victory.

The Pistons (46-36) will play host to New Jersey Thursday night in the first game of a best-of-five playoff series. The defeat was only the third in 11 games for the playoff-bound Cavaliers (36-46), who will take on Boston Thursday night.

Kelly Tripucka scored 24 points to lead the Pistons. Thomas finished with 15.

Utah 104, San Antonio 102--Utah forward Thurl Bailey scored 27 points, including 6 of his team’s last 10 points, to lead the Jazz to a season-ending win at San Antonio.

Both teams ended the season with 41-41 records. The Spurs will play the Nuggets at Denver in the first round of the playoffs Thursday night. The Jazz will be at Houston Friday night.

Portland 117, Denver 112--Clyde Drexler scored 35 points, four in the final 26 seconds, to give the Trail Blazers a victory at home in their final regular-season game. The victory gave Portland a 42-40 record, fifth-best in the Western Conference, and a first-round matchup against Dallas in the playoffs Thursday night.

Denver, the Midwest Division champion at 52-30, plays San Antonio in the first round.

Phoenix 124, Golden State 111--Rookie guard Jay Humphries scored 13 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, including 7 in a 34-second span, as the Suns won at home in their regular-season finale. The Suns, who face the Lakers in a first-round playoff series beginning Thursday at the Forum, trailed, 92-88, after three quarters. But they took the lead for good, 106-104, on Maurice Lucas’ jumper with 5:22 remaining.

Houston 121, Seattle 98--The Rockets won easily at Houston and will play host to Utah Friday night in the first round of the playoffs. The Rockets finished the regular season with a record of 48-34.

The SuperSonics ended the season by dropping 12 of their last 13 games.