NBA Roundup : Deep Celtics Defeat Bulls, 106-94

As the NBA regular season enters the last quarter, the Boston Celtics’ record is only one game better than it was a year ago.

There is hardly anyone who doubts that the Celtics are a better team than the one that was pushed aside in the championship final last spring by the Lakers.

Last season, with Coach K.C. Jones disdaining use of his bench, the Celtics were already showing signs of wear and tear. By playoff time, Larry Bird and Kevin McHale were dragging.

It doesn’t figure to happen this season. The Celtics are a team with only a single purpose--to avenge the loss to the Lakers. They have developed a bench, and they just keep winning.

At the moment, the Celtics seem to be on a different level than the rest of the NBA. It all started to jell for the club when Bird overcame nagging injuries, but even the bench is making big contributions.

In one of the rare games that Bird has not been a big factor, the Celtics trounced the Chicago Bulls, 106-94, Tuesday night at Chicago to extend their latest winning streak to six games. With a 48-11 record, the Celtics are 4 1/2 games ahead of the Lakers in the race for the best overall record.

Bird, in his lowest output in more than a month, had 15 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists. But Kevin McHale, with 23 points, and Robert Parish, with 18 points and 11 rebounds, led the Celtics.

Reserves Bill Walton, Jerry Sichting and Scott Wedman were also prominent contributors. The three came off the bench to sink 11 of 17 shots from the field.

The Bulls, already without their best player, Michael Jordan because of injury, also did not have Orlando Woolridge. Their top scorer failed to show.

Denver 128, Houston 115--Bill Hanzlick stands only 6-7, but the hustling Nugget continues to frustrate the giants of the NBA.

In this game at Denver, Hanzlick had Ralph Sampson so upset midway through the fourth quarter that the Rocket star punched him. It was Sampson’s game-eliminating sixth foul, and the Nuggets went on to win going away.

Sampson had 26 points before fouling out, but the defeat cut Houston’s lead in the Midwest Division to just one game over the Nuggets.

Although he made only 2 of 13 shots from the field, Hanzlick was 17 of 18 from the free-throw line for his 21 points.

Detroit 120, New Jersey 103--The Pistons bounced back from their loss at Boston Sunday and extended their home winning streak to a club-record 15.

Isiah Thomas, with 28 points and 12 assists, and Kelly Tripucka, who scored 13 of his 25 points in the third quarter to help blow the game open, led the Pistons to their 11th win in the last 12 games.

New Jersey trailed, 53-47, at halftime, but Thomas scored six points and Tripucka four in a 10-0 spurt for the Pistons that put the Nets out of it.

Atlanta 128, Philadelphia 121--Glenn Rivers put on a dazzling passing exhibition at Atlanta to lead the Hawks to their sixth win in the last seven games.

Rivers had a team-record 21 assists, setting up high-scoring Dominique Wilkins for most of his 11 field goals. Wilkins, the No. 3 scorer in the league, had 32 points.

New York 119, Washington 83--Louis Orr and Gerald Wilkins each had eight points in the third quarter at New York as the Knicks outscored the Bullets and went on to win for only the second time in the last 13 games.

The Knicks won with a tough defense. They led only 55-50 at halftime but held the Bullets to 33 points in the second half.

Manute Bol, who didn’t block a shot Sunday when the Bullets upset Milwaukee, blocked only two in this game but scored 11 points.

Golden State 129, San Antonio 126--Purvis Short scored seven points in overtime and finished with 33 at Oakland to lead the Warriors to victory.

The Warriors led by 10 points early in the fourth quarter. Jeff Lamp capped the Spurs’ rally by sinking a three-point basket with two seconds left to send the game into overtime.

Sacramento 94, Utah 92--Eddie Johnson scored four points in the last minute at Sacramento as the Kings ended a two-game losing streak.

Johnson’s two free throws, followed by a short jumper, offset a 36-point performance by Adrian Dantley of the Jazz.

Johnson had 19 points, 13 in the last quarter, and enabled the Kings to end Utah’s five-game winning streak.

Portland 102, Indiana 99--Kiki Vandeweghe scored 22 points in the second half and finished with a game-high 30 to lead the Trail Blazer win at Portland. Herb Williams led the Pacers with 29 points.