NBA Roundup : Webb Comes Off Bench to Help Hawks, 116-108

The little guy came fighting back and made amends.

Of course, the little guy is 5-7 Spud Webb of the Atlanta Hawks. He came off the bench Saturday night at Atlanta to get 16 points and nine assists in 26 minutes to lead the Hawks to a 116-108 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

Webb scored nine of his points in the fourth quarter, six of them in the last 43 seconds to stop a Spurs’ rally and hand them their sixth defeat in a row.

Friday night at Pontiac, Mich., Webb was overmatched against the brilliant Isiah Thomas. Trying to guard the 6-1 Pistons’ star, Webb was in foul trouble in a hurry and lasted only 10 minutes.

In the two previous games, the little speedster had led the Hawks to victories.

But Glenn Rivers returned to the starting lineup after the Hawks were beaten by Detroit. Rivers was not at his best Saturday, and the Hawks turned to Webb early.

While Webb was setting up the plays, Dominique Wilkins and Randy Wittman were doing the scoring. Wilkins had 24 points in the first half and finished with 36 points and 10 rebounds. Wittman scored 24 points.

The Hawks led almost all the way, but with a minute left they led only 110-108. Webb sank a jumper, made a steal, was fouled and made two free throws. He completed the scoring with two more free throws.

“I’m just glad that coach (Mike Fratello) has faith in me late in the game,” Webb said. “I like the ball in those situations. I’m confident I’ll either score or find someone open.”

The Hawks have won 20 of their last 22 home games and five of their last six overall. Once again they are 10 games over .500.

Philadelphia 118, Denver 107--Charles Barkley is becoming an awesome force. After the 76ers blew a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter at Denver, Barkley took charge and the 76ers scored the last 12 points.

The Nuggets trailed, 98-82, but rallied to go in front, 107-106, on a three-point play by Bill Hanzlick with 2:13 left.

Barkley scored the next basket on a rebound, fed Bobby Jones for a layup, then made two more free throws to clinch the victory. He finished with 27 points and 18 rebounds.

Moses Malone, after going 5 for 21 in the first three quarters, went 4 for 7 in the last and wound up with 21 points and 19 rebounds.

Dallas 119, Golden State 110--Mark Aguirre sank four baskets in a row late in the first quarter at Dallas and wound up with 40 points to make certain the Mavericks’ losing streak ended at six games.

The baskets gave the Mavericks a 33-22 lead and the Warriors, now 4-29 on the road, never were closer than five points the rest of the way.

New Jersey 102, New York 100--Buck Williams, standing alone under the basket, made a layup with one second left at New York to give the Nets the victory.

The Knicks, behind Gerald Wilkins’ career-high 28 points, led most of the way and were on top, 84-77, early in the fourth quarter.

Mike Gminski and Albert King led a rally that put the Nets in front. With two seconds left, Wilkins’ jumper tied the game, 100-100. After a timeout, Mickey Johnson, passing the ball in, spotted Williams alone and fired the ball to him for the winning points.

At halftime the Knicks honored former star Earl (the Pearl) Monroe and retired his No. 15 jersey.

Utah 110, Sacramento 94--Adrian Dantley scored 25 points, but it was the 45 points scored by players coming off the bench at Salt Lake City that enabled the Jazz to end the Kings’ six-game winning streak.

Thurl Bailey scored 16 points in 26 minutes to lead the charge of the reserves. The win put Utah (31-30) over .500 for the first time since late December.

Portland 117, Houston 112--Clyde Drexler had a Larry Bird-type game at Portland to enable the Trail Blazers to end a 12-game losing streak. Drexler had 24 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists. It was his third triple-double of the season.

Ralph Sampson had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Rockets, now 10-19 on the road. He did not score in the second half.