NBA Roundup : Blazers Find a Way to Win Without Bowie

With Sam Bowie injured, the Portland Trail Blazers went to their running game Sunday night and scored a 125-118 victory over the Houston Rockets at Portland, Ore.

The Blazers converted 15 of 18 fast breaks in the first half as they broke a three-game home losing streak.

Mychal Thompson led the Blazers with 29 points, 13 rebounds and 3 assists. The 6-foot-10 Thompson was matched against Houston’s 7-4 center Ralph Sampson, who got into early foul trouble and finished with just two points.

Akeem Olajuwon, Houston’s 7-foot forward, was high-scorer with 35 points. He also had 10 rebounds.

Olajuwon sparked a fourth-quarter run for Houston with 12 points as the Rockets cut the Blazers’ lead twice to 3 points. But Kiki Vandeweghe iced the game for the Blazers with two free throws and a 119-110 lead.

Jim Paxson scored 28 points and Vandeweghe added 22 for Portland.

Trail Blazer Coach Jack Ramsay called it a “great effort running and rebounding.

“We got the ball at their big guns (Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson) when they got in foul trouble, and made them play us,” he said. “Mychal Thompson was magnificent. So were Jim Paxson, Darnell Valentine and Kenny Carr.”

Milwaukee 140, Phoenix 138--Jeff Lamp sank two free throws with four seconds left in overtime to cap a torrid comeback by the Bucks at Phoenix.

Trailing 127-118 with 31 seconds left in regulation, Milwaukee tied the score at 128-128 on Terry Cummings’ slam dunk with 29 seconds left, Lamp’s three-point play with 26 seconds to go, Ricky Pierce’s three-point play with 11 seconds left and Cummings’ 16-foot jumper at the buzzer.

Walter Davis, who had a season-high 38 points for Phoenix, tied it at 138-138 on a free throw with 19 seconds left in overtime and two foul shots with nine seconds to go.

Cummings finished with 28 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter.

Cleveland 98, Atlanta 90--Mel Turpin scored 17 of his career-high 27 points in the third quarter as the Cavaliers rallied from a 16-point deficit at Richfield, Ohio.

Cleveland won for the first time in six home games, becoming the last team in the league to win at home.

Washington 115, Chicago 106--Jeff Ruland scored 12 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter at Landover, Md., as the Bullets rallied for their third straight win.

Jeff Malone scored 26 points and Gus Williams had 25 for the Bullets. Quintin Dailey scored 27 points for Chicago and Orlando Woolridge had 26.

Seattle 110, Denver 84--The SuperSonics used a 16-2 spurt to take a 60-44 halftime lead at Seattle as they ended Denver’s five-game winning streak.

Rookie Xavier McDaniel of the Sonics led all scorers with 22 points.

Denver’s Alex English, the NBA’s leading scorer, was held to 16 points, well below his average of 32.8.

New Jersey 118, Sacramento 103--Otis Birdson scored 10 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter as the Nets scored their third straight road win at Sacramento.