NBA Roundup : Cavaliers End Celtics’ Win Streak at 7 Games

Craig Ehlo and Dell Curry made consecutive three-point shots midway through the fourth quarter, breaking open a close game and giving the Cleveland Cavaliers a 119-100 victory over the Boston Celtics at Richfield, Ohio, Saturday night.

It was the Celtics’ first loss after seven straight wins, but it was the fourth straight time they have lost at Richfield.

Curry scored 14 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter as Cleveland ended a three-game losing streak.

The three-pointers by Ehlo and Curry started a 10-0 run, and the Celtics never recovered.

Ehlo also contributed on defense, guarding Boston’s Larry Bird after Cleveland’s Phil Hubbard sat down with five fouls midway through the third quarter. Bird had 22 points at the half and finished with 32, scoring only 2 of those in the fourth quarter.

Brad Daugherty scored 19 points, and Mark Price and John Williams had 16 each for the Cavaliers. Kevin McHale scored 25, and Danny Ainge 19 for the Celtics. Ainge also made a three-point play to extend his three-point streak to 23 games.

Boston committed 20 turnovers, 10 in the first quarter when the Cavaliers overcame 13 points by Bird to take a 25-22 lead.

“It seems like on the road we don’t do a good job of pushing the ball upcourt,” Ainge said. “In our half-court game, Larry and Kevin are our first two options. When you try to beat a team with two players, it’s tough. We really weren’t getting everybody involved in our offense.”

Cleveland made 6 of 7 three-point shots, while Boston was 3 of 11.

The sellout crowd of 20,900 was Cleveland’s largest in more than two years.

Dallas 113, Milwaukee 97--The Mavericks, trailing by 18 points in the first quarter, beat the Bucks at Dallas with the second-biggest comeback in franchise history.

“A lot of people may have counted us out,” said point guard Derek Harper, who had 20 points and 12 assists. “But as Coach (John) MacLeod told us, we don’t have an 18-point play, so we had to be patient. We kept our poise and chipped away.”

Mark Aguirre scored 35 points as the Mavericks, off to their best start, won their fourth straight game and seventh in their last eight.

The greatest comeback in Mavericks history came in 1984 when they rallied from a 19-point deficit to beat the Portland Trail Blazers.

Dallas was badly beaten on the boards in the first quarter, 19-6. But MacLeod went to a bigger lineup in the second quarter, and Dallas outrebounded Milwaukee, 18-9, in that quarter.

Buck Coach Del Harris said the second quarter, when the Bucks were outscored, 34-16, proved the team’s undoing.

“We lost our aggressiveness in the second quarter,” Harris said. “The team that has the advantage is the team that’s the biggest and most aggressive.”

The Bucks, 5-11 on the road this season, went 0 for 3 during their Texas road trip, losing to Houston and San Antonio earlier in the week.

Chicago 121, Golden State 94--Michael Jordan led the Bulls in scoring for the 37th time in 38 games with 36 points, and center Mike Brown added a season-high 15 for the Bulls at Chicago.

The only time that Jordan has not lead the Bulls in scoring was Dec. 1 at Golden State, when Jordan had a season-low 16 and teammate John Paxson had 19 in a 98-97 Chicago victory.

The loss was the 19th on the road against just one win for the Warriors, who have lost 13 of their last 17 games.

The Warriors, playing without Ralph Sampson, who was injured in Friday night’s game against the Washington Bullets, were outrebounded, 40-22, in the first three quarters.

Sacramento 97, New York 94--Reggie Theus scored 22 points, and the Kings blew a 15-point lead before rallying to beat the Knicks at Sacramento.

Kenny Walker scored 16 points for the Knicks as New York lost its 13th straight road game and its 17th out of 18 this season. Patrick Ewing had 13 points and a career-high 8 blocked shots for New York.