NBA Roundup : Rockets Lose 2nd in Row, 111-107

Ever since the Houston Rockets traded Ralph Sampson to Golden State for Eric (Sleepy) Floyd and Joe Barry Carroll, Coach Bill Fitch has been talking about what a steal it was for the Rockets.

He pointed out that it might take a month or so to blend the new players into the team, but that before long the Rockets would be a powerhouse.

Early this month, the Rockets impressed the Boston Celtics, among others. The Celtics’ Robert Parish went so far as to say he thought the Rockets could handle the Lakers.

The Rockets don’t appear much better than they were when they had the Twin Towers. When the trade was made in December, the Rockets were 11-8 and two games out of first place.

When Walter Berry scored 30 points and had 10 rebounds Friday night at San Antonio to lead the Spurs to a 111-107 victory, it was the second loss in a row for the Rockets.

Houston dropped 4 1/2 games behind the Dallas Mavericks, the Midwest Division leader, and its record of 31-21 is only the fifth best in the Western Conference.

Portland 104, Chicago 96--Michael Jordan won a shootout at Chicago with Portland’s Clyde Drexler, but, in Kevin Duckworth, the Trail Blazers had a surprise package.

Drexler scored a career-high 42 points and still fell 10 points behind Jordan. Jordan, who was 21-34 from the field and had 8 rebounds, equaled his previous National Basketball Assn. season high of 52.

Jordan twisted a knee early in the third quarter but returned after sitting out only one minute.

Duckworth, who has played so well since taking over at center for injured Steve Johnson, scored 9 of his 27 points in the last quarter to lead Portland to victory.

Boston 132, Milwaukee 96--In recent games, Larry Bird has started slowly and had to play almost the entire game in order to give the Celtics a hard-earned victory.

In this game at Boston, Bird started fast, the Celtics built a big lead and the super forward had the entire fourth quarter off.

Bird, who has averaged 36 points since the All-Star break, scored 19 points in the first quarter and had 32 before taking a well-earned rest.

In winning their fourth in a row, the Celtics built a 100-66 lead before clearing their bench. The win gave the Celtics a 14-0 record in games in which they have held the opposition under 100 points.

Detroit 137, New Jersey 109--On the road, the Nets are hopeless. With Rick Mahorn scoring a career-high 34 points at Pontiac, Mich., the Pistons handed the Nets their 25th loss in 26 games away from home.

Mahorn scored 13 points in the first quarter, and Adrian Dantley, who missed the previous 10 games with a sprained ankle, came in during the second period to score 12 of his 21 points and help Detroit build a 68-51 halftime lead.

Atlanta 116, Indiana 101--Dominique Wilkins scored 32 points, and Spud Webb scored 7 in a 10-2 spurt in the fourth quarter at Indianapolis that broke open a close game.

The Hawks had only a 92-88 lead when Webb triggered the winning rally with a three-point play.

Denver 120, Philadelphia 104--Blair Rasmussen scored 21 points at Denver to help Doug Moe become the 12th coach in NBA history to win 500 games.

As the Nuggets handed the 76ers a club-record 17th straight road loss, Lafayette Lever just missed a triple-double. He had 18 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds.

The victory moved Denver past Houston and into second place in the Midwest Division.

New York 125, Golden State 119--Gerald Wilkins scored 12 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter at Oakland, and the Knicks made 31 of 32 free throws to win their third in a row.

The Warriors’ Ralph Sampson injured his right knee, but it is not believed to be serious.

Seattle 133, Sacramento 130--Dale Ellis scored 37 points, and the SuperSonics needed almost all of them to beat the stubborn Kings at Seattle.