NBA Roundup : Pacers Surprise Hawks, Pull Even With Bullets, Knicks

In one of the closest battles for playoff spots in the history of the National Basketball Assn., the East is going right down to the wire.

With two games remaining for each, Washington, Indiana and New York are in a triple deadlock for the last two positions in postseason competition. All are at 37-43.

The three-way tie came about Wednesday night when Indiana surprised the Hawks at Atlanta and Milwaukee routed Washington at Milwaukee.

Herb Williams, starting for the injured Wayman Tisdale, scored 20 points and had 10 rebounds to lead the Pacers to a 116-98 victory.

What was surprising about the Pacers’ win is that the Hawks needed it themselves. With the defeat, they fell a half-game behind Chicago in the battle for the third-best record in the Eastern Conference. Whichever team finishes third will not be in the same playoff bracket with the Boston Celtics.

The Pacers, with new life, can assure themselves a playoff berth by beating the Pistons at Detroit Friday night and knocking off the visiting Knicks the next night.

The Knicks are at Milwaukee Friday night. The Bullets play their last two games at home, facing Detroit tonight and Atlanta Saturday. If they win both, they are in the playoffs.

“All the guys off the bench gave us a lift,” Coach Jack Ramsay of the Pacers said. “We knew we had to stop Dominique (Wilkins) and we did.”

Wilkins was 6 for 26 and had 18 points.

Ramsay said he did not know if Tisdale, who has a shoulder injury, will be ready for Detroit Friday night.

Milwaukee 132, Washington 94--The Bucks have been playing so poorly, the Bullets thought they had a good chance to win at Milwaukee.

Instead, the Bucks came out blazing. Terry Cummings scored 10 of his 26 points in the first quarter as the Bucks built a 32-16 advantage. In the second quarter, with Paul Pressey leading the way, the Bucks again outscored the Bullets, 32-16.

By doubling the score in the first half, it was a breeze. The lead was 40 points after three quarters.

Seattle 121, Phoenix 98--Dale Ellis’ three-point basket capped an 11-2 fourth-quarter spurt that broke open a close game at Seattle and enabled the SuperSonics to eliminate the Suns from playoff contention.

San Antonio got the final spot in the West while not playing.

Ellis, starting his first game since a March 31 injury, had 24 points.

Portland 131, Golden State 117--In this game at Oakland, the Trail Blazers handed the hapless Warriors their 60th defeat and moved into a tie with Dallas for the third-best record in the West.