NBA Roundup : Williams’ 40 Points Help Pacers Beat Knicks, 112-92

Herb Williams scored a career-high 40 points Monday in the Indiana Pacers’ 112-92 victory over the New York Knicks at Indianapolis, but he had some help from the bench.

“We were told he had 33 points, so we left him in for a couple extra shots to get his career high,” Pacer Coach George Irvine said.

Williams, who also grabbed 14 rebounds, scored Indiana’s last nine points in the first half and had 21 of the Pacers’ 25 points in one stretch.

He started his spurt with a layup that gave Indiana a 53-41 advantage with 1:41 remaining in the first half. His two free throws gave Indiana a 60-43 halftime advantage, and the Knicks never drew closer than 15 again.

Williams’ previous NBA high was 37 points on two occasions, including a 107-83 victory over the Knicks on Dec. 6.

The Knicks lost their eighth straight game and their 12th in 13 games.

Utah 107, Detroit 106--Rickey Green hit a baseline jumper with 16 seconds remaining to give the Jazz a victory over the Pistons at Salt Lake City.

Detroit’s Isiah Thomas drove for the hoop with eight seconds left, but his shot was blocked by 7-foot-4 Jazz center Mark Eaton. The loose ball went to Kelly Tripucka, who put up a jumper that bounced off the rim at the buzzer.

Thomas had tied the score, 105-105, on a jumper with 27 seconds left and made it a three-point play by adding the free throw to put the Pistons ahead.

Thomas had 32 points and 11 assists, while Bill Laimbeer added 26 points and 21 rebounds.

Adrian Dantley scored 25 points for the Jazz. Eaton had 10 points, 15 rebounds and 6 blocked shots.

Atlanta 106, Chicago 96--Dominique Wilkins led the Hawks on a 13-0 run in the third quarter at Atlanta, and the Hawks turned back the Bulls’ fourth-quarter rally that was led by Michael Jordan.

Wilkins scored 12 of his 29 points in the third period, four of them in the 13-point streak that gave the Hawks a 71-52 lead.

Jordan, playing in only his second game after a layoff of more than four months because of a broken foot, scored 13 of his 17 points in the final period and added 7 steals.

Charles Oakley had 20 points and 15 rebounds for Chicago.

Philadelphia 118, Cleveland 112--Sedale Threatt and Charles Barkley each scored 21 points, and Threatt led an overtime spurt that carried the 76ers past the Cavaliers at Richfield, Ohio, spoiling the debut of Cleveland’s interim coach Gene Littles.

Threatt scored the first three points of an 8-0 76er streak in overtime.

World B. Free scored 32 points for the Cavaliers.

New Jersey 130, Washington 102--Buck Williams scored 10 of his 19 points and pulled down 7 rebounds in the first quarter as the hot-shooting Nets routed the Bullets at Landover, Md.

The Nets hit 10 of their first 11 shots from the floor to take a 24-10 lead. The only miss during that stretch was by Williams, who rebounded his own failed attempt and put the ball back in.