NBA Roundup : Rockets Defeat Pacers Despite Absence of Sampson

Houston Coach Bill Fitch said he was forced to change his team’s game plan “a little bit” Wednesday night at Indianapolis because of the absence of center Ralph Sampson, who injured his back in a fall at Boston on Monday.

Whatever changes Fitch made apparently did not hurt the Rockets, who rallied to beat the Indiana Pacers, 110-101. Akeem Olajuwon scored 8 of his 27 points in the final two minutes and grabbed 21 rebounds to spark the win.

“You don’t lose a player of that (Sampson’s) dimension and use the same game plan,” Fitch said. “We’re fortunate we’ve been adjusting the last three weeks now. We’re just happy to get the win.”

Sampson is expected to miss at least one more game.

The Pacers built leads of 10 points in the first half and were still ahead by seven midway through the final period before Houston rallied with a string of eight in a row.

Washington 120, Dallas 112--Cliff Robinson scored 21 points, and Dan Roundfield added 19 at Landover, Md., as the Bullets clinched an Eastern Division playoff spot.

The victory was the third straight for the Bullets, who have not lost under new Coach Kevin Loughery.

Robinson scored 12 of his points in the second half as the Bullets wore the Mavericks down. Gus Williams had 15 points for Washington, while Dallas’ Rolando Blackman led all scorers with 24 points.

Philadelphia 112, Atlanta 103--Moses Malone scored 32 points and passed the 11,000 mark in career rebounds at the Spectrum as the 76ers scored their first victory over the Hawks this season.

Malone pulled down 11 rebounds, bringing his total to 11,006. Charles Barkley added 23 points and 19 rebounds for Philadelphia, which won its ninth game in 11 starts. Dominique Wilkins scored 31 points for the Hawks.

Boston 121, Milwaukee 115--Larry Bird scored 35 points, and Dennis Johnson had 29 to lead the Celtics to their 25th consecutive home victory.

The Celtics extended their overall winning streak to nine games and drew within two games of the league record for home victories, set by the 1949-50 Minneapolis Lakers. The Bucks, who are 0-4 against Boston this season, saw their five-game winning streak snapped.

Craig Hodges’ 16-foot jumper tied the game for the 17th time, 109-109, with 4:55 remaining. Milwaukee did not score for the next 3:30 while Bird sparked an 8-0 run and Boston took control.

Milwaukee was led by Terry Cummings’ 31 points and 15 rebounds, while Sidney Moncrief netted 25, all but two in the first half.

Cleveland 110, New Jersey 108--Edgar Jones’ tip-in with four seconds remaining lifted the Cavaliers over the Nets at East Rutherford, N.J.

The defeat was the fourth straight for New Jersey and snapped a 14-game home winning streak against Cleveland.

World B. Free scored 26 points and John Bagley had 17 points and 12 assists to pace the Cavaliers, while Mel Turpin added 16 points.

Mike Gminski led the Nets with 24 points.

Phoenix 120, Seattle 107--Rookie Ed Pinckney scored seven of his career-high 27 points in a decisive third quarter as the Suns won their fifth straight game from the SuperSonics this season and their eighth in a row at home against Seattle.

Walter Davis added 22 points for Phoenix. Rookie Xavier McDaniel paced Seattle with 21 points.

Utah 116, Denver 101--Adrian Dantley scored 18 of his 37 points in the first quarter to lead the Jazz past the Nuggets at Salt Lake City.

Denver’s Alex English, who is battling with Dantley and Atlanta’s Dominique Wilkins for the league scoring title, scored 27 points.

Jazz rookie Karl Malone finished with 23 points, while Calvin Natt had 26 for Denver.