NBA Roundup : Injury-Plagued Knicks Stun Celtics, 128-120

The injury-plagued New York Knicks, led by 28-point performances from Louis Orr and Gerald Wilkins, defeated the Boston Celtics, 128-120, at New York Tuesday night, snapping a five-game losing streak and salvaging one positive moment from what has been a dismal season.

“This was the biggest one of the year for us,” Knick guard Trent Tucker said. “We’ve been through tough times, but we still enjoy the game. When you beat the best in basketball, you’ve got to feel good about it.”

The Knicks, with five players 6-foot-9 or taller on the sideline, took advantage of the absence of injured Boston starters Kevin McHale and Dennis Johnson to win for only the 22nd time in 72 games this season.

The Knicks took the lead for good in the third quarter despite 20 points in the period by Larry Bird, who had 30 of his 39 points in the second half. A basket by Chris McNealy, giving New York an 80-78 advantage with 6:03 left, was the 22nd and final lead change of the game.

The Celtics, who need to win seven of their final nine games to become the first team in NBA history with 60 victories in four consecutive seasons, got 22 points from Robert Parish and 21 from Danny Ainge.

Tucker added 18 points for New York, and rookie Kenny Walker had a season-high 13 rebounds.

“The Knicks got runs from a lot of different people,” Bird said. “It wasn’t just one person who did it for them. They played good team defense and we didn’t. Our rotation on defense wasn’t what it normally is and we gave them a lot of easy baskets.”

Philadelphia 116, Cleveland 105--Making the best out of a bad situation, the 76ers beat the Cavaliers at Richfield, Ohio, led by 34 points and 12 rebounds from Charles Barkley.

Despite snowfalls that approached 20 inches in the Cleveland area, a crowd of 17,641 turned out to watch 76er star Julius Erving in his final appearance at the Richfield Coliseum. Erving, who will retire at season’s end, scored 17 points.

Because of the bad weather, the 76ers spent nearly seven hours in airports and on planes before landing in Cleveland three hours before game time. Barkley said he was proud of the team’s performance.

“It was a terrible day. We deserved to win. I was tired and everybody was tired,” Barkley said. “When we got to the hotel, I wanted to sleep but we had to go to the game. Today was full of adversity but we hung in there.”

Ron Harper led Cleveland with 27 points, and John Bagley chipped in with 20.

Chicago 101, Washington 75--Michael Jordan scored 26 of his game-high 36 points in the first half at Chicago to lead the Bulls over the Bullets, clinching a playoff berth at the same time.

“Michael was rarin’ to go,” Bull Coach Doug Collins said, referring to Jordan’s frustration at being held to 15 points and 22 points, well below his league-leading average of 37.0 points a game, in two earlier games.

“They double-teamed me early before I could get going in those other games,” Jordan said. “They did the same thing tonight, but I had surrounding help and and I was getting great post-up position.”

Jordan played only 34 minutes. Brad Sellers and Charles Oakley took up the slack. Sellers scored 17 points off the bench, and Oakley had 15 points, 21 rebounds and 8 assists.

Utah 110, Phoenix 95--Darrell Griffith scored 27 points, including three three-point goals, to spark the Jazz to the win at Salt Lake City.

The victory was the first for the Jazz in four tries against the Suns this season.

Walter Davis led Phoenix with 23 points.

Denver 111, San Antonio 106--Alex English scored 18 points and Darrell Walker added 17 as the Nuggets overcame the Spurs at Denver.

Reserve guard Johnny Moore led the Spurs with 21 points.

Seattle 132, Sacramento 129--Tom Chambers scored the winning basket and finished with a game-high 36 points, helping the SuperSonics snap a three-game losing streak with the victory over the Kings at Seattle.

Seattle also received 34 points from Dale Ellis and 22 from Xavier McDaniel. Rookie guard Nate McMillan got 21 assists.

Sacramento was led by Otis Thorpe’s career-high 34 points.

Portland 113, Detroit 111--Terry Porter sank two free throws with two seconds to play, giving the Trail Blazers the win at Portland, Ore.