NBA Roundup : Bulls Slip Past the Celtics, Can Avoid Them for Now

Michael Jordan scored 46 points and Sam Vincent made a key play in the stretch Sunday at Chicago and the Bulls beat the Boston Celtics, 115-108, to clinch the third-best record in the East.

The victory means that the Bulls will not have to play the Celtics in the second round of the postseason tournament which determines the National Basketball Assn. champion.

It’s just as well, because the Bulls, in the regular season finale, didn’t make anyone believe they are ready to challenge the Celtics.

Although the Celtics left Larry Bird at home, Kevin McHale on the bench and played Robert Parrish and Dennis Johnson only a few minutes at the start, the Bulls barely won.

Danny Ainge and the much-maligned Boston bench pushed Jordan and Co. to the limit. The Celtics fought from a 14-point deficit to within 106-103 with a little more than two minutes left. They had the ball, moving to make it really close.

But Sam Vincent, a No. 1 pick by the Celtics in 1985, stole the ball, went in for a layup, was fouled and made it a 109-103 game.

The victory gave the Bulls a 50-32 record, same as Atlanta. The Bulls had a season series edge of 3-2. So the Hawks open with Milwaukee in the best-of-five series, with the winner almost sure to draw Boston in the second round.

The Bulls play Cleveland in the first round, while Detroit plays Washington. The winners of those series play in the second round.

“I would rather play Milwaukee,” Chicago center Dave Corzine said. “Cleveland has confidence it can beat us.”

The Celtics, who will not have Bill Walton for the playoffs, expect their rested regulars to be in good health when they open a best-of-five series with New York Friday night at Boston. The Celtics are favored by many experts to dethrone the Lakers as champions.

Dallas 119, San Antonio 109--Roy Tarpley came off the bench to get 27 points and 13 rebounds in 32 minutes at San Antonio as the Mavericks clinched the No. 3 spot in the West.

Although the Mavericks and Portland both finished with 53-29 records, the Mavericks won the season series, 3-2, and will play Houston in the first round of the playoffs.

The victory puts the Mavericks in the same bracket with Denver, which goes into postseason play as the hottest team in the NBA, having won 16 of their last 18.

San Antonio will meet the Lakers in the first round beginning Friday night at the Forum.