NBA Roundup : With 30,002 Points, Dr. J Is in Good Company

The city of Philadelphia and its sports fans honored Julius Erving Friday night, and the good Doctor made it a gala occasion.

On the night in which he played his final regular-season game for the 76ers, Erving became only the third player in basketball history to score 30,000 in his pro career.

Erving sank an eight-foot turnaround jump shot for his 36th point with five minutes left in the third quarter against the Indiana Pacers to reach a milestone attained only by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain.

It was not a perfect night, however. Erving scored only two more points, and the Pacers wore down the 76ers in the closing minutes to pull out a 115-111 victory.

Before a sellout crowd of 17,967 at the Spectrum, Erving was lavished with gifts and words of praise by the governor of Pennsylvania and the mayor of Philadelphia in a 43-minute ceremony.

It was the climax of a series of ceremonies that have honored the 37-year-old star on his farewell tour after 16 brilliant seasons as a professional.

Outside the Spectrum was a large billboard with two sneakers painted on it: “Thanks for the memories, Doc, we’ll never fill your shoes.”

Erving, in a short speech, said that of all the celebrations in his honor, “this is the best.”

“When I come back as a fan next season,” he said, “I want to look to the rafters to know we have become a family. I want to look up to see that Steve Mix played here, that Wilt Chamberlain played here and all those other great players.”

Detroit 130, New Jersey 117--In Pontiac, Mich., the Pistons did some celebrating of their own. A crowd of 22,691 at the Silverdome enabled them to set an NBA season attendance record of 908,240. It broke the mark of 890,713 by Seattle in 1979-80.

Adrian Dantley scored 28 points to lead the Pistons to their 52nd victory, tying the club record for a season.

Tom Wilson, Piston executive director, gave credit to four straight winning seasons that coincided with the acquisition of Isiah Thomas.

“For 25 years, we were a team with no history,” Wilson said. “People grew up and never went to Piston games. With Isiah, we’ve been building a tradition. People have discovered we’re good entertainment.”

Thomas had 19 points and 14 assists. He was the driving force behind the spurt that broke the game open in the middle of the fourth quarter.

The Pistons will have a chance to break the club record for victories tonight when they play their final regular-season game at Milwaukee.

Houston 121, Dallas 99--There was an undercurrent of the angry feeling between the two teams, but it erupted only once at Houston.

Late in the third quarter, Houston’s Jim Peterson and Dallas rookie Roy Tarpley squared off and started throwing punches. Both were ejected.

Maybe it was the way the Rockets dominated that prevented more trouble. With Akeem Olajuwon scoring 29 points and Ralph Sampson 20, the Rockets roared in front early and breezed, building a 59-41 halftime lead and then coasting.

Bad blood developed between the teams after Coach Dick Motta of the Mavericks accused Houston Coach Bill Fitch of losing purposely to avoid having to play the Lakers early in the playoffs.

Boston 108, Chicago 105--Larry Bird scored 38 points, and the Celtics needed them to hold off the pesky Bulls, who were missing their punch most of the second half.

Michael Jordan, coming off three consecutive games in which he scored at least 50 points, suffered a thigh injury and played hardly at all after intermission. He had only 17 points before departing.

“The best defense against Jordan,” Coach K.C. Jones of the Celtics said, “is have him sitting on the bench.”

Said Bull Coach Doug Collins: “The injury to Michael wasn’t serious. It was just a precautionary measure. We want him ready for the playoffs.”

The Celtics are set for a showdown with Atlanta Sunday at Boston to determine the team with the best overall record in the East.

Bill Walton played his second game in row for the Celtics. In 11 minutes, he had a basket and a rebound.

Washington 142, New York 110--Moses Malone scored 22 points and had 10 rebounds at New York to enable the Bullets to clinch sixth place in the overall standings in the East.

The Bullets will play the Detroit Pistons in the opening round of the playoffs. Knick Coach Bob Hill didn’t make any friends among the Bullets when he predicted the Pistons would win easily.

Bernard King, continuing his comeback effort, scored 29 points for the Knicks, all in the first three quarters.

Portland 111, Utah 101--Clyde Drexler had 29 points and 12 rebounds, and teammate Jerome Kersey had 26 points and 14 rebounds at Portland to lead the Trail Blazers. Portland built a 16-point halftime lead and won handily.