NBA Roundup : Rugged Central Division Appears Up for Grabs

It is becoming obvious that no team in the highly competitive Central Division, is good enough to take charge.

Three teams have had a chance to take command, but none has succeeded.

Michael Jordan got the Chicago Bulls off to a fast start, and they had a good run. The Detroit Pistons took over first place when the Bulls faltered. Next it was the Atlanta Hawks’ turn.

The Hawks have gone into a slump, and indications are there will be a scramble that could involve all six teams before a winner emerges.

Detroit took over first place from the Hawks Thursday night, but it already is open season on the Pistons.

Terry Cummings had 36 points and Jack Sikma 24 Friday night at Milwaukee to lead the Bucks to a 119-108 victory that ended the Pistons’ six-game winning streak.

The Pistons went down battling, though. In fact, they even battled with the officials. Center Bill Laimbeer, Coach Chuck Daly and assistant coach Dick Versace were all dismissed because they picked up two technicals.

Sikma converted all seven technicals assessed against the Pistons. The technicals were assessed in the first and third quarters.

“I think that was only the second time in 10 years that I have been ejected,” Daly said. “I was thrown out without saying anything.”

Milwaukee Coach Del Harris felt the technicals had no bearing on the game.

“I think we were going to win the game anyhow,” he said. “It was a big game.”

The Pistons, with Atlanta losing to the Lakers in overtime, held on to first place, but only six games separate first and last. The hottest team in the division is Indiana. The Pacers are in fourth place, have won six in a row and trail the Pistons by only 4 1/2 games.

Chicago 111, Sacramento 90--After Michael Jordan had a brief letdown following his sensational All-Star game performance, the Bulls went into a slump. They seem to be straightened out once again.

Jordan scored 18 of his 49 points in the second quarter at Chicago to break open a close game and give the Bulls a “laugher” for the first time in quite a while.

Jordan also had eight points and two steals in the middle of the third quarter to trigger another spurt.

Jordan was 19 for 27 from the field to lead the Bulls to a 56.5% shooting night.

The victory moved the Bulls to within 2 1/2 games of the top in the Central Division.

Dallas 113, Golden State 100--Ralph Sampson was once again a flop in Texas, and the Warriors couldn’t do anything about stopping the Mavericks from winning the 300th victory in franchise history.

Rolando Blackman and Mark Aguirre each scored 27 points, and the Mavericks held off a determined fourth-quarter rally and won their fourth in a row.

Sampson, who made three of 15 field goal attempts in the first half, was 4 for 17 and had 6 rebounds in 29 minutes.

Warrior Coach George Karl kept Sampson on the bench throughout the Warriors’ late run. The Mavericks led, 96-80, but Golden State scored 14 points in a row to pull within two. Blackman scored six points in an 8-2 run that saved the game.

“I went with the team I thought we could win with,” Karl said, explaining why he didn’t bring in Sampson.

Washington 106, San Antonio 102--Bernard King scored 22 points at San Antonio, but it took four free throws in the last 66 seconds by Moses Malone for the Bullets to hand the Spurs their fifth loss in a row at home.

Malone’s first two free throws made it 102-99. Then the Spurs’ Alvin Robertson and Johnny Dawkins both missed three-point shots before Malone made two more charity tosses.

After Mike Mitchell hit a three-pointer, Jeff Malone finished the scoring with two free throws.

Philadelphia 115, New Jersey 100--When Charles Barkley has one of his really big games, it takes a pretty good road club to handle the 76ers at Philadelphia.

Barkley scored 43 points, and the Nets, who can’t beat anybody on the road, fell to 1-24 away from home.

If Barkley had not decided to try three errant three-point shots, he would have had a torrid shooting night. In conventional two-point tries, the husky forward was 16 for 19. The three-point attempts cut into his high average.

“We won because of Charles and a tough defense,” 76er Coach Jim Lynam said. “The defensive rebounding wasn’t as good as we can do, but otherwise we were tough on defense.”

Boston 124, Portland 104--Larry Bird, ignoring a broken nose suffered Wednesday night at Denver, had 40 points and 13 rebounds at Portland, Ore., to lead the Celtics to victory.

Bird buried the Trail Blazers with a four-basket barrage during a little more than two minutes in the fourth quarter.

The Celtics, playing without injured center Robert Parish, wound up 4-4 on their longest trip of the season.