NBA Roundup : Hawks Beat 76ers in Philadelphia, Too, 122-114

The Atlanta Hawks completed a “double” Wednesday night at Philadelphia when Dominique Wilkins scored 8 of his 37 points in overtime to lead them to a 122-114 victory over the 76ers.

It was the Hawks’ second win in two nights over the once-overpowering 76ers. It is unusual for a team to beat another good team on successive nights in the NBA. It is especially unusual if the second game is played on the home court of the team that lost the first one.

The Hawks, again led by Wilkins, scored a rather easy 128-121 victory Tuesday night at home, but this one, as expected, was hard-fought.

The 76ers held a 62-53 lead at halftime, but an 18-2 run in the middle of the third quarter put the Hawks ahead. The 76ers had to battle from behind in the last quarter. Julius Erving’s dunk with seven seconds left in regulation tied the score, 108-108. When Wilkins missed a three-point shot at the buzzer, it was overtime.

The Hawk win was accomplished despite another strong performance by Moses Malone. Against a relay of 7-footers--Tree Rollins, Kevin Willis and Jon Koncak--Malone scored 29 points and had 20 rebounds.

In the five-minute extra session, Wilkins outscored the 76ers, 8-6, and the young Hawks won going away. The Hawks are 3-0 against the 76ers this season.

A year ago, the Hawks were 25-37 after 62 games and failed to make the playoffs. With the back-to-back wins, they are 37-25. Instead of just trying to make the playoffs, the Hawks have lofty ideas.

They are now two games behind Philadelphia for the third best record in the East. If they can pass the 76ers or finish ahead of Detroit, they would have the homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

The Hawks’ sweep impressed Erving.

“They have the potential to go a long way,” Erving said. “They have a superstar in Dominique as a cornerstone and a lot of big guys to do the dirty work. Now, they’re one of the most respected teams in the league.”

The Hawks, in second place in the Central Division, don’t figure to catch hot Milwaukee, but they keep on improving.

“We’re going to keep fighting,” said Willis, who had 20 points and 12 rebounds in 36 minutes. “We hope we can move up in the playoff picture and continue to win. We’re within striking distance of the 76ers now.”

Boston 108, Chicago 97--If Orlando Woolridge was going to skip a couple of games in order to make a point in his contract dispute with the Bulls, he couldn’t have picked two better games. By no stretch of the imagination were the Bulls, even with their leading scorer, likely to win either game against the Celtics.

With Larry Bird scoring 17 of his 26 points in a 29-8 surge that began late in the second quarter, the Celtics breezed to their seventh victory in a row and completed a sweep of consecutive games with the crippled Bulls. Tuesday night, Boston beat Chicago, 106-94.

The Celtics were holding only a 43-41 lead when Bird decided it was time to go to work. The Celtics outscored the Bulls, 19-8, before halftime, then scored the first 10 points of the third quarter.

The Bulls, playing without Woolridge, Quintin Dailey and two injured players--Michael Jordan and Dave Corzine--twice fought back within five points.

Milwaukee 119, New Jersey 106--Ricky Pierce proved to be a more than adequate replacement for Sidney Moncrief, who missed this game at East Rutherford, N.J., because of rib injuries.

Pierce scored a career-high 32 points and held high-scoring Otis Birdsong to 12. Pierce scored six points in a 10-1 burst late in the third quarter that gave the Bucks the momentum to win for the 12th time in the last 13 games.

Cleveland 115, Phoenix 100--Roy Hinson scored 5 of his 22 points in an 18-4 spurt in the last five minutes at Phoenix. When the Cavaliers began their closing rally, they led only 97-96.

Indiana 120, Seattle 112--Clint Richardson made five consecutive field goals in the fourth quarter at Seattle as the Pacers came from behind to win for only the fifth time in 30 road games.

The SuperSonics led, 88-87, after three quarters.