NBA Roundup : Tripucka Scores 41 as Streaking Pistons Win 8th Straight

Kelly Tripucka scored 41 points Monday night as the Detroit Pistons stretched their winning streak to eight games by turning back the Chicago Bulls, 110-100, at Pontiac, Mich.

The Pistons have won 12 straight games at the Silverdome.

Tripucka hit 17 of 26 shots from the floor, including 3 of 4 three-point attempts, but said the more shots he made the more nervous he got.

“You start getting a hot hand and you know sooner or later God is going to start beating you up or double-teaming you,” Tripucka said. “I was just taking them one basket at a time.”

Tripucka scored 17 points in the first half and added 15 in the third quarter as the Pistons took the lead. But they couldn’t pull away until the fourth period.

The Bulls, playing without four injured regulars, were within 86-82 after three quarters. Detroit again broke away midway through the final quarter, building a 100-90 lead on two jumpers by Tripucka and a pair of free throws by Earl Cureton. Chicago got no closer than four points the rest of the way.

Isiah Thomas added 33 points and Bill Laimbeer had 20 for the Pistons. George Gervin scored 26 points, 22 in the first half, and Sidney Green added 22 for Chicago.

Houston 110, Dallas 105--John Lucas hit four free throws in the last nine seconds, and Ralph Sampson had 28 points and 19 rebounds, as the Rockets scored the last seven points at Houston to hand the Mavericks a fourth straight defeat.

The Rockets tied the game, 105-105, with 25 seconds left on a five-foot fall-away jumper by Robert Reid. He was fouled on the shot, but missed the free throw and Sampson grabbed the rebounds. He was fouled and made 1 of 2 free throws to put the Rockets ahead to stay with 22 seconds left.

Jay Vincent had 31 points for Dallas.

Dallas Coach Dick Motta was given two technicals in the first quarter and was ejected.

Cleveland 124, San Antonio 114--World B. Free scored 31 points and John Bagley scored added 24 as the Cavaliers beat the Spurs at Richfield, Ohio.

The Cavaliers led, 66-64, at halftime before Bagley scored 9 of the Cavaliers’ next 11 points for a 77-71 lead with 8:57 left. Bagley had 15 points in the third quarter, and Cleveland took a 93-88 lead into the final period.

Nine points by Wes Matthews brought the Spurs to within 113-109 with 1:35 left, but the Cavaliers made three steals in the final minutes to hold on for the victory.

Mike Mitchell scored 28 points for the Spurs, and Matthews had 20. Roy Hinson scored 21 for Cleveland.

Washington 99, New Jersey 89--Jeff Malone scored 7 of the Bullets’ last 11 points in the final 4:17 to hold off the Nets before only 1,711 fans on a snowy night at Landover, Md.

The Bullets handed the Nets their eighth loss in the last 10 games.

Baskets by Micheal Ray Richardson and Albert King pulled the Nets to within 88-87 before Washington outscored New Jersey, 11-2, the rest of the way.

Malone had 25 points and Jeff Ruland added 23 for the Bullets, while King had 18 and Richardson added 16 for the Nets.

Denver 119, Portland 113--At Portland, Alex English scored 32 points to lead the Nuggets to their fifth straight win.

It was the Trail Blazers’ 10th straight loss and 13th in the last 14 games. The 10-game losing streak is the longest in the NBA this season, surpassing a nine-game loss skein by Phoenix.

English, who is averaging 29.1 points per game to lead the league, scored 16 points in each half.

Mychal Thompson led the Trail Blazers with 23 points. Kiki Vandeweghe added 22 for Portland, but he failed to score in the fourth quarter.