NBA Roundup : Pistons, Heating Up, Cool Off Jazz

Nine games into the season, the Detroit Pistons were in last place, Coach Chuck Daly was being criticized for making a deal for Adrian Dantley and there was talk that Daly was in danger of losing his job.

There is no such talk now. Dantley is contributing, the Pistons have turned a 3-6 start into a 12-8 record and the team has been impressive in its last three games, all victories.

Dantley had 20 points, and Isiah Thomas had 20 points and 18 assists Wednesday night at Pontiac, Mich., in a 122-107 Piston victory over the Utah Jazz.

Before ending the seven-game winning streak of the surprising Jazz, the Pistons, in successive outings, had knocked off the two teams with the best records in the National Basketball Assn., the Lakers and Atlanta.

“We were just too erratic early,” Daly said. “Besides, it took Adrian a little while to get comfortable over here. He was being double-teamed, and we were having trouble getting him the ball.”

Last season, Dantley averaged nearly 30 points a game for the Jazz. Although he was off to a slow start, he has been making big contributions in recent games. He has been a factor in the Pistons winning 9 of their last 11 games.

The Jazz obtained forward Kelly Tripucka and center Kent Benson for Dantley. Tripucka has had even more trouble adjusting to the Jazz than Dantley has to the Pistons.

Last season with the Pistons, Tripucka averaged 21.6 points while playing about 37 minutes a game. For the Jazz he is under 10 points a game while playing about 22 minutes a game.

In his first appearance against his old mates, Tripucka played 33 minutes, made 7 of 11 shots, scored 16 points and had 5 assists.

The Pistons were without sharpshooting Vinnie Johnson, who was injured in a fight with Atlanta’s Tree Rollins Tuesday night.

Cleveland 110, Philadelphia 107--The young Cavaliers may have been too inexperienced to handle the Lakers Tuesday night, but they didn’t have the same problem with the 76ers at Philadelphia.

Rookie center Brad Daugherty scored 29 points, and rookie guard Ron Harper put on a spectacular finish to pull out the victory. Harper had 27 points, including 6 in the last 39 seconds that brought the Cavaliers from behind.

Harper tied the score, 105-105, with a jumper, then, after a steal by Phil Hubbard, scored on a layup to put Cleveland ahead for good. With 13 seconds left, he sealed the victory by sinking two free throws.

Boston 113, Indiana 101--Even on nights when he doesn’t completely have his shooting touch, Larry Bird comes through in the clutch. After going 8 for 24 for three quarters at Boston, Bird made his first four shots in the fourth quarter to break the game open.

Bird had 34 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocked shots.

Just after Bird’s spurt to open the last quarter, John Long of the Pacers and Rick Carlisle of the Celtics were ejected for fighting.

San Antonio 94, Phoenix 81--Jon Sundvold came off the bench to score 22 points in 23 minutes at San Antonio, and the Spurs ended a four-game losing streak. Sundvold scored 14 points in the last quarter.