NBA Roundup : Erving Has 28 Points, Leads 76ers Past Nets

The Nets had heard that Julius Erving, in the final days of a glorious career, was merely playing out the string. The word was that he was not a factor in the resurgence of the Philadelphia 76ers.

What a shock for 12,131 East Rutherford, N.J. fans when a spirited Erving showed up Wednesday night to lead the 76ers to an easy 121-95 victory over the hapless Nets. The Nets (11-35) have lost seven in a row.

Erving played only 28 minutes and scored a point a minute. He was largely responsible for breaking open the game after the Nets closed to 66-55 early in the second half. Erving scored 10 points in a 15-4 spurt that made it 81-59.

On their previous visit Dec. 12, the 76ers were trounced, 123-90. They were out to make amends.

“I watched film of that one,” Erving said. “It just kept getting worse and worse. They beat us convincingly, and it was something we didn’t forget.

“We ran into a struggling team. They looked real flat. Disinterested isn’t the right word. But they didn’t give us much resistence.”

Nets Coach Dave Wohl agreed. “We should all be embarrassed, players and coaches alike,” he said.

Boston 104, Cleveland 102--The Cavaliers’ losing streak at Boston Garden was extended to 23 games, but it took accuracy at the free throw line for the Celtics to win it.

Larry Bird made four in a row in the last five seconds to clinch the victory. The Cavaliers had three more field goals, but were 16 for 27 from the line to 23 for 27.

Bird had 29 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Celtics to their ninth win in the last 11 games.

The Cavaliers had their own star, rookie guard Ron Harper. Harper, making 15 of 21 field goal attempts, had 40 points and 9 assists before fouling out with two minutes left.

Dallas 124, Seattle 94--There was no letdown by the Mavericks after their win over the Lakers at the Forum Monday.

In this game at Dallas, Mark Aguirre scored 15 points in the first quarter as the most talked about team in the West jumped in front by 11 and steadily widened the gap.

They go into the All-Star break as the third team in the NBA to post 30 victories. The Lakers and Boston Celtics did it first.

The victory stretched the Mavericks’ lead in the Midwest Division to 2 1/2 games over Utah.

The Mavericks don’t play again until next Tuesday when they play Portland at Dallas.