NBA Roundup : Utah Scares Up a Win Over Celtics

The sight of the Boston Celtics in high gear threw a fright into their coach, but the Utah Jazz weren’t running scared.

Karl Malone had 25 points and 15 rebounds Monday night, and the Utah reserves outscored Boston’s bench, 56-6, as the Jazz surprised the Celtics, 109-89, at Salt Lake City.

“I was scared when Boston came out and scored the first three baskets of the second half,” Utah Coach Frank Layden said. “They had the momentum going just before the half, and when they hit those first three I was really worried.”

The Jazz had a 53-44 lead late in the second quarter, but Boston rallied to tie the score, 53-53, at halftime and scored the first six points of the second half to complete a 15-0 run.

But Thurl Bailey scored 10 points during a 23-12 Utah burst that gave the Jazz a 83-73 lead going into the final quarter. Malone scored seven points in the fourth quarter, and the Celtics never got closer than nine points down the stretch.

“We weren’t in sync all night,” said Boston’s Larry Bird, who scored 26 points. “After we went up by six early in the third quarter, everything just fell apart. It seemed like Malone was able to do whatever he wanted to tonight.”

Darrell Griffith added 23 points for Utah, including five three-point shots, and Bailey had 18 points. John Stockton had 17 assists.

Robert Parish added 19 as the Celtics lost their second game in a row, matching their longest losing streak of the season.

Milwaukee 128, New Jersey 124--Ricky Pierce scored 23 points and Sidney Moncrief had 11 of his 20 in the fourth quarter as the Bucks fought off the Nets at Milwaukee.

It was the fifth straight victory for the Bucks, who moved to within two games of first-place Detroit and one-half game of second-place Atlanta in the Central Division.

Milwaukee outscored New Jersey, 12-6, to open the final period and tie the score at 101-101 on a basket by Pierce. Terry Cummings’ jumper with 3:53 left put the Bucks up for good, 115-113. John Lucas had four points in the final minute to hold off the Nets.

Buck Williams and Mike Gminski each scored 22 points, and Albert King added 20 for the Nets, who have lost 10 of their last 11 games.

Houston 105, Dallas 100--Akeem Olajuwon scored 36 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead the Rockets past the Mavericks at Houston.

Steve Harris hit a jumper with 35 seconds left to give the Rockets a 101-100 lead, and Cedric Maxwell made four free throws in the final nine seconds to seal the victory.

Sam Perkins scored 23 points for the Mavericks, Rolando Blackman had 22 points and James Donaldson added 20 points and 17 rebounds.

Robert Reid scored 15 points for Houston, and Rodney McCray and Jim Petersen each added 14.

Washington 124, Phoenix 110--Jeff Malone scored 38 points and the Bullets downed the Suns at Phoenix.

Moses Malone added 36 points off the bench for the Bullets after sitting out the first quarter and part of the second because of the flu.

Walter Davis scored 24 points for the Suns and Larry Nance had 22.

Phoenix cut a 15-point deficit to 77-71 late in the third quarter, but the Bullets made the last three baskets of the quarter and opened the final period with a 12-6 surge.

Indiana 112, Golden State 93--Chuck Person scored 25 points and the Pacers raced past the Warriors at Indianapolis.

The Pacers built a 40-25 lead after one quarter behind Vern Fleming’s 18 points and survived a run in the second half by the Warriors.

Golden State trimmed the lead to 56-49 at halftime and got as close as 70-66 on a three-point shot by Chris Mullin with 5:23 left in the third quarter.

The Pacers rebuilt their lead to 21 points in the final quarter.

John Long added 19 points for Indiana, and Herb Williams had 17. Purvis Short scored 16 for the Warriors.

Philadelphia 111, New York 101--Charles Barkley had 17 points and 19 rebounds to lead the 76ers past the Knicks at New York.

The Knicks trailed by 17 points late in the second quarter, but got within 72-70 eight minutes into the third period. The 76ers pulled away again with a 14-4 spurt that gave them an 86-74 lead entering the final period.

Tim McCormick scored 19 points for Philadelphia, and Maurice Cheeks and Roy Hinson each had 18.

Patrick Ewing scored 24 points for the Knicks.

Cleveland 105, Seattle 94--Ron Harper scored 28 points, and the Cavaliers beat the SuperSonics at Richfield, Ohio.

The Cavaliers held Tom Chambers, averaging 23.9 points a game, to 11 points, limited Dale Ellis to 7 under his average at 17 points and allowed Xavier McDaniel, averaging 22.4, only 5 points.

Brad Daugherty added 21 points for Cleveland. Phil Hubbard had 17, and John Williams scored 15.

Sacramento 124, Chicago 120--Eddie Johnson hit an 18-foot jump shot with 54 seconds left in overtime and Reggie Theus added a pair of free throws with 12 seconds remaining to lift the Kings at Chicago.

The victory was the Kings’ third straight under interim coach Jerry Reynolds but only the team’s fourth in 22 road games this season.

Michael Jordan scored 43 points for the Bulls and Dave Corzine had 26.

Otis Thorpe scored 29 points for the Kings, and Theus added 28.