NBA Roundup : Celtics’ Johnson Delivers in Clutch

Just when it seems Dennis Johnson is fading away, he blows you away.

Johnson, a clutch player for 12 NBA seasons, scored six points in the final 1:13 Wednesday night, including two free throws with 15 seconds left, to give the Boston Celtics a 119-118 victory over the San Antonio Spurs at Boston.

For good measure, he blocked a shot by San Antonio’s John Sundvold with two seconds left.

“He always has been better in the clutch than in the regular flow of the game,” Spur Coach Bob Weiss said of Johnson.

It was a big game in a season during which Johnson is averaging fewer than 13 points a game and shooting 41%.

Johnson had two points and one rebound in the first half, which ended with San Antonio leading, 60-53. He finished with 16 points, 11 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 steals and just 1 turnover.

“D.J. plays his game and when it comes to crunch time he takes it up another level,” Boston Coach K.C. Jones said.

Larry Bird scored 36 points for Boston despite playing with goggles to protect his fractured left eye socket.

The Celtics set an NBA record by taking 21 three-point shots, breaking the record of 20 set by New Jersey against San Antonio Feb. 2. Danny Ainge made 4 of his 12 three-pointers, giving him 261 attempts for the season, breaking the record of 257 set by Utah’s Darrell Griffith in 1984-85.

Washington 115, Phoenix 111--Moses Malone scored 8 of his 24 points in the final four minutes, and the Bullets rallied to beat the Suns at Landover, Md., for their seventh straight victory.

Washington, which led, 91-77, after three quarters, trailed, 100-97, with 4:29 remaining. John Williams’ layup cut the lead to one point, and Malone made a pair of free throws to put the Bullets ahead to stay with 3:18 left.

Bernard King, playing for the first time since Feb. 22, scored 20 points for Washington, and Williams added 19.

Cleveland 117, Milwaukee 91--Ron Harper scored 23 points and Brad Daugherty had 20 as the Cavaliers ended a six-game losing streak by turning back the Bucks at Richfield, Ohio.

The Cavaliers took a 56-44 halftime lead by scoring the last seven points of the second quarter and didn’t let Milwaukee get any closer than nine points in the second half. Cleveland blew open the game with a 15-2 surge that made it 90-65 late in the third quarter.

Terry Cummings scored 22 points and Jerry Reynolds had 18 for Milwaukee.

Detroit 103, Utah 98--Bill Laimbeer scored 21 of his 27 points in the first half and added 12 rebounds at Pontiac, Mich., and the Pistons held on to snap the Jazz’s five-game winning streak.

The Pistons increased a 60-44 halftime lead to 23 points in the third quarter, but Utah closed within 87-86 on a three-point basket by John Stockton before Isiah Thomas scored the last four points of an 8-0 run that restored the Pistons’ lead to 95-86.

Karl Malone scored 26 points for the Jazz and Thurl Bailey added 20.

Seattle 106, Sacramento 97--Dale Ellis had 24 points as the Sonics beat the Kings at Sacramento.

Sacramento trailed by 11 points in the first half, then pulled within 88-87 with 7:42 left. But the Kings missed 4 of 5 free throws while Seattle made 10 straight.

Otis Thorpe had 27 points and 10 rebounds for the Kings.