NBA Roundup : As All-Stars Fizzle, Reid Leads Rockets to Win

It was a good time to showcase the All-Stars.

But it was lesser-known players who put on a show Sunday at Atlanta on national television.

Akeem Olajuwon, Ralph Sampson and Dominique Wilkins, who all figure to be prominent in next Sunday’s All-Star game at Seattle, played poorly, while others starred.

Robert Reid, shooting accurately from long range, scored 11 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Houston Rockets to a 106-104 victory over the Hawks. Reid had to be hot to hold off the Hawks’ dynamite duo, Kevin Willis and John Battle.

Maybe Wilkins had an excuse. He has been bothered by an aching back for a couple of weeks. He scored eight points early to help the Hawks build an 11-point lead. For most of the rest of the game he all but disappeared.

However, with the Hawks trailing 106-104 and only 10 seconds remaining, they twice went to Wilkins in an attempt to tie. Olajuwon knocked Wilkins baseline drive out of bounds. Given a reprieve, Wilkins tried again, but his 10-foot jumper missed and so did two tipin attempts.

Battle, starting at guard for the injury-riddled Hawks, had a career-high 27 points and 8 assists. Willis only had 16 points, but he dominated the Twin Towers defensively and on the boards, getting 16 rebounds.

The Hawks elected to concentrate on defensing Olajuwon and Sampson and leaving the other Rockets free to roam. When Sampson and Olajuwon did get the ball, they had to force their shots. Sampson was 6 for 14, Olajuwon 5 for 14.

The strategy was foiled by Reid, one of the best pure shooters in the NBA, as he made 12 of 19 shots. Most of them came with no Hawk within five or six feet.

“If you get the ball to me, I’ll score,” Reid told the Associated Press. “When you play with two great post players, things will open up for the outside players. Ralph and Akeem get a lot of attention.”

In the last quarter, while Reid and Rodney McCray were getting the key points, neither Sampson nor Olajuwon scored at all.

Wilkins had three baskets in the last quarter. He wound up with 16 points (6 for 15), 6 rebounds and 4 assists.

Golden State 150, New Jersey 147--Joe Barry Carroll had six of his 43 points in the fourth overtime at Oakland to lead the Warriors to a wild victory. The game missed going into a fifth overtime when Leon Wood’s three-point try from midcourt bounced off the rim.

The game was two overtimes short of the record, set in 1951 when Indianapolis beat Rochester, 75-73, in six overtimes. But Sleepy Floyd, who scored 29 points Sunday, tied a record by playing 64 of the 68 minutes.

Wood was 0 for 7 when he made a three-point shot with four seconds left in the final overtime. After Chris Mullin made only one of two free throw attempts, Wood had another chance, but missed.

Carroll, who played 55 minutes, had 24 rebounds. Buck Williams of the Nets had 27 rebounds, 10 of them during the 20 minutes of overtime.

San Antonio 120, Milwaukee 116--Although his club had won only 11 of its first 40 games, rookie Coach Bob Weiss of the Spurs said he thought his team had a good shot at the playoffs.

It was good for a laugh. But not now.

With Alvin Robertson scoring 29 points and rookie Walter Berry turning in another solid performance at San Antonio, the Spurs sped to their fifth win in a row.

All of a sudden, the eighth spot in the West isn’t that far out of reach.

The Spurs (16-29), are four games behind Denver, which currently occupies the last spot in the battle for postseason play.

Berry, the No. 1 draft choice of Portland, came to the Spurs in trade for Kevin Duckworth just after Christmas. It has been some present for the Spurs. In the five consecutive wins, he is 40-68 from the field and has averaged 20 points.

Detroit 94, Chicago 92--Michael Jordan scored 17 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter at Pontiac, Mich., to lead a Bulls’ rally. But, trailing by two points, the Bulls missed five shots in the last 27 seconds.

Apparently, as the visiting team, the Bulls weren’t going for the tie. Three of those shots were three-point attempts by Jordan.

Isiah Thomas had a triple-double for the Pistons (14 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists).

Jordan lured a season-high 38,873 into the Silverdome.

Portland 133, Dallas 117--After the Mavericks scored the first nine points at Portland, Kiki Vandeweghe and his teammates went to work.

Vandeweghe scored 13 of his 38 points in the second quarter when the Trail Blazers took the lead. They didn’t really take charge until the start of the last period, though. They scored 74 points in the second half.

Utah 121, Sacramento 113--The Jazz, embarrassed losers to the Clippers Saturday night, escaped another embarrassment in this game at Sacramento.

Rickey Green had 24 points and 13 assists to help the Jazz build a big enough lead to survive four consecutive three-pointer in the last 75 seconds.