NBA Roundup : Pistons Struggle but Defeat Bucks

One of the things that separates the great teams from the good ones is that teams such as the Lakers and the Boston Celtics are able to take big victories in style. The pretenders are unable to do that.

The Pistons are the prime example of a team that does not yet qualify for greatness. Last Friday night before a record NBA crowd at the Silverdome, they trounced the mighty Celtics.

They’ve been living off their laurels ever since.

It took a baseline jumper by Bill Laimbeer--his only points of the game--with 19 seconds left Tuesday night at Milwaukee to give the Pistons a 99-97 victory over the Bucks and end a two-game skid.

The night after the impressive win over Boston, the Pistons went into Meadowlands Arena and were humiliated by the New Jersey Nets, a team that had won only eight out of 40 games.

Then Monday night, the Pistons could score only 83 points and were trounced again, this time by Cleveland.

Most of this game the Pistons again appeared to be lifeless. When Craig Hodges sank three three-pointers in a row, the Bucks pulled in front, 86-80, in the fourth quarter.

Three baskets by Rick Mahorn, who had a career-high 29 points, tied the game and it stayed close until Laimbeer, who had missed six shots in a row, scored the basket that gave Detroit the lead for good.

Ralph Lewis, an escapee from the Continental Basketball Assn., hit two long jumpers in the closing minutes to help the Pistons pull it out.

“Ralph was the guy,” said Laimbeer, who had 13 rebounds. “He hit the two biggest baskets around. All my shots were spinning out, but I wasn’t bricking them, so I put up the last one.”

New York 110, Washington 106--Earlier in the season, the Knicks couldn’t win anywhere. Lately, they have at least learned to win at New York.

Gerald Wilkins, who scored a season-high 29 points, tossed in a left-handed hook shot with 55 seconds left to clinch the fifth victory in a row at Madison Square Garden.

“I got that from Larry (Bird),” Wilkins said after giving the Knicks a four-point lead. “A play was called for me and I had to do something.”

The shooting of Bernard King, who had 28 points, kept the Bullets ahead for three quarters.

The second loss in a row gave the Bullets a 9-5 record under new Coach Wes Unseld.

Houston 109, Phoenix 99--The Rockets called on their Warrior Connection at Houston to hand the slumping Suns their ninth defeat in a row.

Joe Barry Carroll came off the bench to score 21 points, seven of them in a row in the fourth quarter to break the game open, and grab 12 rebounds.

Carroll was obtained from the Warriors in the Ralph Sampson trade. Earlier this season, the Rockets had obtained Purvis Short, who also had 21 points off the bench, from the Warriors.

Akeem Olajuwon led the Rockets with 26 points and 15 rebounds.

San Antonio 118, New Jersey 106--In an effort to win their second in a row on the road after 26 losses, the Nets resorted to three-point shots. They made seven out of 20 and were buried.

The Spurs made all four they tried and led most of the contest. Walter Berry had 28 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Spurs.

The Spurs led by as many as 17 points in the first half.

Portland 121, Atlanta 118--Clyde Drexler scored 32 points and Kiki Vandeweghe, playing for the first time since Dec. 29, added 25 as the Trail Blazers dealt the Hawks their fourth straight loss at Portland.

Kevin Duckworth added 22 points and a career-high 17 rebounds for the Blazers, who rallied from a 20-point second-quarter deficit, then held off a charge by the Hawks in the game’s final minutes.

Atlanta, playing its third of four straight games on the road, went on a 24-5 run late in the first and early in the second quarter to take a 39-19 lead.