NBA Roundup : Hawks Trump Cavaliers With Ace

Atlanta is in first place in the Central Division, Cleveland is in last. But they were pretty even Monday night because the Cavaliers hit 51 of 59 free throws, compared to 16 of 19 for the Hawks, a difference of 35 points.

However, Atlanta was able to compensate with a weapon that could not be matched: Dominique Wilkins.

Wilkins scored 41 points, the last four coming at the free-throw line in the final 61 seconds, to lead the Hawks to a 110-105 victory at Atlanta.

The Hawks claimed their 51st victory of the season, the most since the team moved from St. Louis for the 1968-69 season, and moved two games ahead of second-place Detroit, which was idle.

Glenn (Doc) Rivers added 18 points and 13 assists, while Cliff Levingston had 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Hawks. Brad Daugherty led Cleveland with 33 points and 12 rebounds, and John Williams added 23 points.

Cleveland rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit to tie the game, 105-105, on Williams’ free throw with 1:23 left. Wilkins came back to hit two free throws, and the Cavaliers had another chance to tie, but Mark Price was called for charging with six seconds left.

The Hawks closed out the scoring with three more free throws.

New York 108, Philadelphia 101--The Knicks rallied from a 24-point second-quarter deficit as Trent Tucker scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half of Julius Erving’s final game at Madison Square Garden.

Gerald Wilkins had 19 of his 24 and Bill Cartwright scored 16 of 21 in the second half.

New York trailed, 59-36, at halftime, but the Knicks made 68% of their shots (17 of 28) in the third quarter to pull to within 78-74 late in the quarter.

New York finally caught up, 90-90, with 6:28 left on a pair of free throws by Wilkins and converted its foul shots the rest of the way to clinch its third straight victory at home. The Knicks scored 12 of their final 18 points from the foul line and made 21 in all in the fourth quarter after getting just three through the first three periods.

The Knicks had to overcome their own fans to do it. A crowd of 17,146 was on hand to say farewell to Erving, playing in his 30th game at Madison Square Garden. He received a standing ovation at the start of the game and every time he touched the ball in the opening minutes.

“They were booing us,” Wilkins said. “It was like there was no one in the house for us. We got fired up. We were going to shut them down and make it a bad night after all.”

Erving was honored at halftime and received a trip for two to Australia.

Kenny Walker scored 20 points for the Knicks while Charles Barkley had 27 points and 23 rebounds for Philadelphia. Erving had 21 points and needs 105 in his last six games to reach 30,000 for his 16-year career.

Sacramento 110, Utah 104--Otis Thorpe scored 24 points, and Joe Kleine added 22 points and 17 rebounds at Salt Lake City as the Kings beat the Jazz for the first time in six tries this season.

Kleine put the game out of reach with 14 seconds left, sinking a pair of free throws to give the Kings a 107-102 lead.

Houston 114, Portland 108--Robert Reid scored 15 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter at Portland as the Rockets snapped a four-game losing streak.

Houston trailed, 85-80, after three periods, but scored the first 11 points of the fourth and never trailed again. The Rockets built the lead to 108-99 on Reid’s 18-footer with 2:09 left, and the Trail Blazers could get no closer than five the rest of the way.

The Rockets played most of the game without Ralph Sampson, who suffered a slightly sprained ankle in the second quarter.

Phoenix 118, Dallas 110--The Suns kept their slim playoff hopes alive at Phoenix as Walter Davis scored 7 of his 27 points in overtime and Mike Sanders came off the bench to score six points in the extra period.

Sun forward Larry Nance, who had 28 points and 20 rebounds, forced the overtime at 103-103 on a jump-hook at the buzzer.

Sanders put Phoenix ahead to stay, 107-105, on a jumper with 4:01 left in overtime before Davis made a three-point play 52 seconds later and added a jumper with 1:53 left for a 112-107 lead.