NBA Roundup : Mavericks Defeat Warriors, Clinch Title in Midwest

Rolando Blackman scored 33 points Friday night at Dallas as the Mavericks, reaching the 50-win plateau for the first time in their history, clinched the Midwest Division title with a 136-116 victory over the Golden State Warriors.

With the loss, Golden State missed a chance to clinch its first playoff berth in 10 years. A loss by Phoenix against Utah would also have assured a playoff spot for the Warriors, but the Suns won to clinch the championship for Dallas.

The Mavericks (50-24) have won 10 of their last 11 games.

“It’s a goal,” Dallas Coach Dick Motta said of the 50 wins. “Once you climb to reach it, it feels really good. But we still have a lot to prove. We have gained the respect of other teams in the league. I got out my championship ring (from the Washington Bullets) the other day to let the players see it and experience it. I wanted them to know it is possible.”

Roy Tarpley added a career-high 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Mark Aguirre scored 20 and Derek Harper 18 for Dallas, which also out-rebounded Golden State, 49-34. Rod Higgins (22 points), Larry Smith (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Sleepy Floyd (a season-high 18 assists) led the Warriors.

Atlanta 126, New York 89--Dominique Wilkins and Mike McGee each went on torrid shooting streaks as the Hawks outscored the Knicks, 39-6, in an 11-minute span of the second half at Atlanta. The victory, combined with Detroit’s defeat at Boston, gave the Hawks a 1 1/2-game lead over the Pistons in the Central Division.

Wilkins hit field goals on four straight possessions during the Atlanta run, which began with the Hawks leading, 67-64, with 6:52 left in the third quarter and ended with the advantage at 106-70.

McGee came off the bench to score 10 points in 2:04 of the second quarter, including two three-point shots. He finished with a team-record four three-pointers and 26 points to go with Wilkins’ 28 points.

Bill Cartwright led New York with 16 points.

Boston 119, Detroit 115--The Celtics overcame their largest deficit of the season and won their 26th straight game at Boston Garden as Robert Parish’s eight-foot jumper with 31 seconds left in overtime put them ahead to stay.

“Parish took the game over,” Detroit Coach Chuck Daly said. “He made shot after shot down the stretch.”

The Pistons, however, did not. In fact, the Pistons, who had connected on 60% of their shots through the first three quarters to build a 93-80 lead, made just 5 of 15 shots in the fourth and missed all six shots in overtime.

A 20-4 run in the first quarter had given Detroit a 31-14 lead. Boston’s biggest previous deficit of the season was 14-1 against Denver, a game the Celtics also won.

New Jersey 113, Philadelphia 109--The Nets continued to play the role of spoilers, not only upsetting the playoff-bound 76ers at East Rutherford, N.J., but also ruining an emotional retirement party for Julius Erving.

Erving, who played for the Nets in their last three years in the old American Basketball Assn., had his former uniform retired and was given a car (and a lifetime pass to New Jersey state parks) in a pregame ceremony that brought tears to his eyes. On the court, he had an off night, making just 2 of 12 shots and scoring 6 points in 28 minutes before a crowd of 20,149, the first sellout at the Brendan Byrne Arena this season.

Orlando Woolridge, who hit 11 of 13 shots and 11 of 12 free throws to finish with 33 points, seemed to pick up on the emotion of the crowd. He sparked a late 10-2 charge that carried New Jersey from a four-point deficit to the victory.

Washington 122, Chicago 118--Jay Vincent and Jeff Malone scored 33 points each, and Moses Malone added 22 points and 11 rebounds at Landover, Md., as the Bullets snapped a three-game losing streak.

Michael Jordan led Chicago with 32 points, and Charles Oakley added 17 and rookie Brad Sellers 16. Jordan failed to score from the 9:13 mark of the fourth period until he hit a three-point shot with 16 seconds left in the game.

Chicago sandwiched three-point shots around a Washington free throw in the final minute. But a pair of clutch free throws by Ennis Whatley of the Bullets with four seconds left held off the Bulls.

Denver 116, San Antonio 106--Alex English scored 29 points, and Lafayette Lever added 25 for the Nuggets at San Antonio to send the Spurs to their fifth straight loss. It was also the eighth win in 11 games for Denver.

Walter Berry had 27 points for San Antonio, while Johnny Dawkins scored 17 points in the fourth quarter. The Spurs shot 39% in the first half.

Phoenix 112, Utah 98--Larry Nance scored 28 points, 17 in the first half, and Mike Sanders came off the bench to add 18 as the Suns beat the Jazz for the fourth time in five meetings this season and kept their slim playoff hopes alive with the win at Phoenix.

Karl Malone had a game-high 34 points and 10 rebounds for Utah.