NBA Roundup : On Tuesday Nights, Kings Are King

Reggie Theus scored 18 points and handed out 17 assists at Sacramento as the Kings defeated the Portland Trail Blazers, 116-99, for their 11th consecutive Tuesday night home-court victory.

Theus’ assists were the most in a single game for the Kings in their past 13 NBA seasons. Terry Tyler and Larry Drew also had 18 points each.

Drew scored nine consecutive points in a 90-second stretch ending with 5:55 to go in the second quarter as the Kings built a 41-30 lead. Portland shot only 32.1% in the third period and Sacramento stretched its lead to 89-66 on Mark Olberding’s three-point play with 2:57 left in the period.

The Trail Blazers chipped away slightly at the lead on three-point plays by Jerome Kersey and Clyde Drexler but missed six consecutive shots early in the final period, allowing the Kings to take a 20-point lead on a 20-foot jumper by Drew with 8:29 to go.

The victory enabled Sacramento to climb out of last place in the Midwest Division. The Kings lead San Antonio by one-half game.

Milwaukee 118, New Jersey 105--Craig Hodges scored 24 points and Sidney Moncrief added 22 at Milwaukee to lead the Bucks to their fifth win in a row.

The Bucks took control of the game at the beginning of the fourth quarter when they outscored the Nets, 10-5, for an 86-81 lead with 8:44 remaining. A jump shot by Rickey Pierce gave them a 94-85 lead with 6:13 left.

Albert King’s jumper with 4:08 left cut the Bucks’ lead to 99-93, but Milwaukee outscored the Nets, 5-2, for a 104-95 lead.

King led the Nets with 34 points. Terry Cummings added 20 for the Bucks.

Atlanta 97, Cleveland 91--Dominique Wilkins scored 34 of his 36 points in the first three quarters at Richfield, Ohio, as the Hawks defeated the Cavaliers.

Wilkins scored 22 points as the Hawks took a 51-40 haltime lead and added 12 in the third period as Atlanta took a 79-67 advantage into the fourth quarter. Wilkins, the league’s second-leading scorer with a 29.6 average, had missed Atlanta’s previous game because of food poisoning.

Mel Turpin led Cleveland with 26 points and World B. Free added 23.

Golden State 125, Detroit 121--Joe Barry Carroll scored 24 points, Terry Teagle added 23 and Sleepy Floyd had 21 to lead the Warriors over the Pistons at Oakland.

Golden State led, 32-20, after the first period, in which Detroit committed nine turnovers, and was ahead by 17 early in the second quarter. The Pistons could get no closer than seven points until the final minute of the game.

The Warriors won for the fifth time in six games in their late-season battle to escape from last place in the Pacific Division. They trail the Clippers by one-half game.

Chicago 111, New York 98--At Chicago, Orlando Woolridge scored 22 points, and Gene Banks and Michael Jordan added 20 and 19, respectively, as the Bulls snapped a five-game losing streak.

Jordan, playing on a limited basis, scored 10 points in the first half and nine in the second as the Bulls pulled within 1 1/2 games of Cleveland for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

Ken Bannister led the Knicks with 20 points, and Darrell Walker added 16.