NBA Roundup : Confidence Is the Key as Bucks Beat Knicks

The Milwaukee Bucks, winners in 11 of their last 12 games, are playing with a quiet confidence, forward Terry Cummings said Monday night after his nine fourth-quarter points helped the Bucks defeat the New York Knicks, 115-108, at Milwaukee.

“We are a team that is quiet, yet real confident . . . confident in each other,” said Cummings, who scored 23 points. “Like tonight, when Kenny (Fields) got hot, we got him the ball, and he kept stroking it.”

Fields, a forward, came off the bench to score a career-high 23 points and hit 10 of 11 shots from the field. His 11 third-quarter points sparked Milwaukee to an 85-71 lead entering the final quarter.

“Luckily in the third quarter, Kenny lit them up, then we hung on in the fourth quarter,” Milwaukee Coach Don Nelson said.

The Knicks, playing without Coach Hubie Brown, who was ejected in the first quarter, opened the final quarter with a 19-8 run to close the gap to 93-90 with 6:33 left. Cummings responded with six straight points to give Milwaukee a 99-90 lead with 4:57 left.

Dallas 139, Phoenix 138--Rolando Blackman’s dunk with eight seconds remaining in the second overtime gave the Mavericks the win at Phoenix.

On the Suns’ final possession, a shot by Mike Sanders was blocked by James Donaldson and a desperation heave by Bernard Thompson bounced off the rim.

The victory was the Mavericks’ second in a row after a six-game losing streak.

Mark Aguirre scored 42 points for Dallas, while Blackman had 32. The Suns were paced by Walter Davis with 31 points.

Seattle 118, Houston 105--Reserve guard Michael Phelps hit his first six shots to help the Supersonics to a 19-point second-quarter lead at Seattle, and the rest was merely a formality.

Phelps, a rookie from Alcorn State, finished with a season-high 17 points. Tom Chambers and Gerald Henderson paced the SuperSonics with 23 points each.