NBA Roundup : Walton Is Super Sub for Celtics in Victory Over Nets

The Boston Celtics lost the best sixth man in the NBA last season when they moved Kevin McHale into the starting lineup. Don’t feel too sorry for the Celtics. They still may have the best player in the league coming off the bench.

He is Bill Walton. The 6-11 center who led Portland to the championship in 1977 before injuries almost ended his career is now a sub, but a good one.

The Celtics use the big man only about 20 minutes per game, but he has consistently given them a lift coming off the bench.

Walton was superb Wednesday night at East Rutherford, N.J. and the Celtics extended their winning streak to nine games with a 130-111 victory over the New Jersey Nets.

Walton played just 23 minutes and scored eight points. But he had 13 rebounds to trigger numerous fastbreaks that helped the Celtics to a red-hot 62.2% shooting.

The Celtics made 15 of their first 19 shots and Danny Ainge, who scored 26 points, had 13 in the first quarter. When the going got tough, Walton came off the bench to keep the Celtics in control.

“This is where I wanted to play,” Walton recently told The Sporting News. “It’s the big picture----the players, the fans, the ex-players, Bill Russell coming into the locker room before a game. It’s the way the community in Boston gets behind the team.”

But the Celtics appreciate their new sixth man, too.

“He seemed to fit right in,” Ainge said. “He seemed really excited to be a Celtic. It was a gamble taking a guy like Bill, but then, it seems all the great players the Celtics have picked up over the years have been gambles.”

Ainge was 9-for-10 from the field, 6-for-6 from the line and had five assists in his best night of the season.

Atlanta 109, Portland 98--Doc Rivers, who missed the first 19 games because of a broken right wrist, made a brilliant return at Atlanta.

In his first game of the season Rivers scored 16 points, had 10 assists and 8 steals.

The Trail Blazers were without Kiki Vandeweghe. It was believed Vandeweghe had suffered a stress fracture of his right leg Tuesday night. It turned out to be a severe bruise and the high-scoring forward may play Friday night against Washington.

Denver 119, Indiana 105--Calvin Natt scored 16 of his 27 points in the second half at Indianapolis as the Nuggets took advantage of 29 Pacer turnovers to gain the victory.

Alex English also scored 27 to help the Nuggets end a two-game losing streak.

The Nuggets, with English leading the way, built a 27-11 lead early in the game, but the Pacers battled back and trailed by only six early in the fourth quarter.

Philadelphia 115, Washington 110--Charles Barkley scored five of his 20 points in the last two minutes of overtime at Philadelphia to lead the 76ers to victory.

The Bullets rallied from an 85-76 deficit in the last quarter. A layup by Frank Johnson with 26 seconds left sent the game into overtime.

Manute Bol, the 7-6 rookie, blocked five shots in the Bullets fourth-quarter rally. The giant rookie fouled out in overtime and when he did, Barkley, who had 18 rebounds, took charge.

Phoenix 100, Chicago 99--Jay Humphries sank two free throws with 20 seconds left at Phoenix to give the embattled Suns only their fourth victory in 20 games.

The Suns, who are off to the worst start in history, held on to win only because Quintin Dailey missed a jump shot with four seconds left. The Bulls’ Dave Corzine grabbed the rebound, but was unable to get off a shot before the final gun sounded.

Larry Nance led the Suns with 29 points and 13 rebounds. Orlando Woolridge also scored 29 points for the Bulls.