NBA Roundup : Knicks Find Hubie Brown Was Right, Beat Bucks for Third Win in Row

It is common knowledge that the New York Knicks did not care too much for deposed Coach Hubie Brown. However, they have learned that one thing Brown kept harping on is true: Unless the Knicks play tough defense, they can’t beat many teams.

Going back to Brown’s pet theory, the Knicks are beginning to earn some respect.

With Bill Cartwright scoring 10 of his 26 points during a 17-5 spurt in the middle of the second half, the Knicks beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 114-100, Saturday night at New York for their third win in a row.

In ending the Bucks’ five-game winning streak, the Knicks ended a string of 15 consecutive defeats against the Bucks. The Knicks had not beaten the Bucks since Dec. 17, 1983. Shortly thereafter, the 7-foot Cartwright started having foot problems and quit having 26-point games.

Brown was fired after the Knicks’ 4-12 start. His replacement, Bob Hill, thought it would be a switch to stress offense. As a result, Hill opened with a 1-9 record. After the Knicks were hammered by Indiana, 123-99, last Saturday at Madison Square Garden, Hill decided to return to basics and go for the good defense.

In winning three in a row, the Knicks have yielded only 284 points. The Bucks are the only team to reach three figures.

“When Hubie was here, defense was the key all the time,” Gerald Wilkins told Gary Binford of Newsday. “When Hubie left, everybody thought we would be creative. Now we know we can’t score 120 points. All we worked on the past week was defense.”

Despite the good defense, the Knicks led only 76-73 when Cartwright triggered the winning rally by scoring eight points in 64 seconds. When the Knicks opened the fourth quarter with a 9-1 spurt, they had a 93-78 lead and it was all over.

In the first two games of the mild streak, Patrick Ewing was the dominant force, scoring 57 points and grabbing 32 rebounds. He was a factor in this one, getting 22 points and 8 rebounds before going out with a slightly sprained ankle early in the fourth quarter.

Chicago 105, Indiana 93--Michael Jordan invariably follows up a poor shooting game with an outstanding performance. On Christmas at New York, Jordan was only 10 for 28 from the field and the Bulls lost.

He came charging back at Chicago to make 20 of 29 shots and lead the Bulls to victory.

After a closely contested first half, the Bulls, with Jordan getting help from Earl Cureton, broke the game open in the third quarter. Jordan scored 15 points and Cureton 13 as Chicago built a 10-point lead.

Jordan has been playing despite the flu and a temperature over 100 the last four days.

Atlanta 119, Golden State 108--Warrior Coach George Karl had barely finished saying that his center, Joe Barry Carroll, was as good as any in the Western Conference when the team hit the road and Carroll flopped.

Carroll had his second weak game in a row in this one at Atlanta, and the Warriors lost their second in a row. In the two games, Carroll scored 36 points and was 15 of 38 from the field.

While Carroll was 7 for 17 and had 6 rebounds in 39 minutes, the Hawk center, Tree Rollins, was 5 for 5, had 10 rebounds and blocked 5 shots in 30 minutes.

Detroit 107, Washington 105--The Pistons, playing without their two outstanding reserves, Vinnie Johnson and Dennis Rodman, should have tired in this game at Landover, Md.

But the Bullets, after jumping off to a 21-9 lead, finally cracked at the finish. Isiah Thomas scored 11 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, including a 23-foot jump shot at the buzzer that won the game.

New Jersey 120, Cleveland 111--James Bailey came off the bench to turn in a sensational performance at East Rutherford, N.J., and lead the lowly Nets to their third win in the last four games.

Bailey entered the game with the Nets trailing, 29-21, but scored 35 points in 30 minutes and had 10 rebounds to turn the game around.

Dallas 123, Phoenix 97--The one-two punch of Rolando Blackman and Mark Aguirre sparkled at Dallas, and the Mavericks (19-9) are 10 games over .500 for the first time in their history.

Blackman had 28 points and Aguirre 24 as the Mavericks won easily.

Denver 108, San Antonio 106--The Nuggets needed one free throw from Danny Schayes when he was fouled as time ran out at San Antonio. The backup center made them both to send the Spurs down to their fifth defeat in a row.

It was only the third win in 16 road games for the Nuggets.

Utah 103, Houston 96--The Twin Towers were outscored by Thurl Bailey at Salt Lake City as the floundering Rockets fell to 10-17.

Ralph Sampson and Akeem Olajuwon combined for 22 points (17 by Olajuwon), and Bailey came off the bench to get 23.

Philadelphia 99, Sacramento 95--Julius Erving tipped in a rebound with 12 seconds left, helping the 76ers beat the Kings at Sacramento.