NBA Notes : 8 Players May Score 2,000 Points

Eight NBA players have either passed the 2,000-point mark this season or were within easy range of that plateau going into the final days.

Michael Jordan of Chicago led the way, passing the 3,000-point level reached only by Wilt Chamberlain.

Dominique Wilkins of Atlanta, Alex English of Denver, Kiki Vandeweghe of Portland and Mark Aguirre of Dallas already have surpassed 2,000 this season. Larry Bird and Kevin McHale of Boston and Dale Ellis of Seattle each had to score less than 20 points per game, far under their averages, to reach 2,000.

The NBA record for 2,000-point scorers in one season is eight in 1971-72.

The Washington Bullets have had only five player foul disqualifications this season, two fewer than the record of seven by the Lakers in 1971-72 and 1984-85.

New Jersey forward Buck Williams is a model of consistency.

Williams is nearing the 1,000-rebound mark again this season. In his first five seasons with the Nets, he finished with 1,005, 1,027, 1,000, 1,005, and 986 rebounds.

Williams was the last NBA Rookie of the Year to play for a winning team, when the Nets finished 44-38 in 1981-82. The last four top rookies--Terry Cummings, then of San Diego; Houston’s Ralph Sampson, Chicago’s Michael Jordan and New York’s Patrick Ewing--played on losing teams.

Only Earvin (Magic) Johnson among the 11 Johnsons in the NBA will finish in the Top 20 in scoring this season, while all three Malones--Moses, Karl and Jeff--probably will make it.

The NBA dropped the Comeback Player of the Year award this season.

Julius Erving says teammate Charles Barkley has come a long way since the days when he was known as the “Round Mound of Rebound.”

“When he first came here, his body proportions were a lot different,” Erving said. “He’s like a statue now. He’s like (Michelangelo’s) David and before he was like Dom DeLuise. The only thing fat about him now is his head.”

Milwaukee needs to win its last game to join Atlanta and Detroit with 50 victories in the Central Division.

Three teams in one division have won at least 50 games only three times since the NBA went to four divisions in 1970-71.

Milwaukee, Chicago and Detroit did it in the Midwest Division in 1973-74; Los Angeles, Seattle and Phoenix all had at least 55 wins in 1979-80; and Boston, Philadelphia and New York had at least 50 in 1980-81.

Since statisticians started keeping track of players getting double figures in points, rebounds and assists in a game, Magic Johnson of the Lakers has the unofficial record of 18 triple-doubles in a season.

But Harvey Pollack, statistics maven for the Philadelphia 76ers, recently studied every box from the Cincinnati Royals’ 1961-62 season and learned that Oscar Robertson had 46 triple doubles en route to averaging 30.8 points, 12.4 rebounds and 11.3 assists.