NBA Roundup : Knicks Top Both Cleveland and Their Own Early Expectations

Not many people expected the New York Knicks to be where they are at this stage of the season--a half-game out of first place and ahead of the Boston Celtics.

But New York Coach Rick Pitino is one of them.

“The fact that we are 8-4 at this point is more than we could have conceivably asked for,” Pitino said. “We’re winning on the road and at home, and we’re winning convincingly.”

Saturday night the Knicks, playing before a sellout crowd of 19,591 at Madison Square Garden, scored a 127-112 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, a team that entered the game with a 97.2 points allowed per game average, the lowest in the National Basketball Assn.

Patrick Ewing scored 31 points, and Mark Jackson had 20 points and 16 assists. Charles Oakley scored 17 points and had 15 rebounds for the Knicks, who never trailed.

“This team can pick out what they’re doing wrong and improve on it quickly,” Pitino said. “We don’t make the same mistakes twice.”

With nine straight points early in the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers cut the Knicks’ lead to 104-98, but New York, which forced 29 Cleveland turnovers, responded with a 13-2 spurt, taking its largest lead of the game, 117-100, with 3:24 left.

The Knicks’ 127 points were the most by any team against the Cavaliers this season.

Dallas 113, Utah 93--Derek Harper hit three 3-point shots and scored on a 3-point play during a 14-0 run in the third period as the Mavericks snapped the Jazz’ seven-game winning streak at Dallas’ Reunion Arena.

The Mavericks, whose 9-3 record is the fastest start in franchise history, won their fifth straight and seventh in their last eight games, moved past Utah and into first place in the Midwest Division.

Harper led the Mavericks with 29 points. Karl Malone had 25 for the Jazz.

Denver 128, Chicago 123--Michael Jordan scored 30 points in the fourth quarter and 52 in the game, but the Nuggets held on to beat the Bulls at Denver.

Alex English scored 29 points and Walter Davis had 28 to lead the Nuggets.

Denver, which led by as many as 27 points in the third period, had a 105-83 lead early in the fourth quarter when Jordan took over.

He had 8 points in a run of 14 straight for Chicago, which made it 105-93 Denver with 7 minutes to play.

Davis then made two free throws and the Nuggets held on.

Atlanta 104, Boston 91--Dominique Wilkins scored 38 points and sparked a scoring spree that helped the Hawks out of a sluggish start and past the slumping Celtics at Atlanta.

Trailing, 55-49, at the half, the Hawks took a 67-66 lead in the third quarter with a 17-4 streak started by a layup and two dunks from Wilkins.

The Hawks went ahead for good, 71-70, on a 15-foot jumper by John Battle with 2:03 left in the third period. Battle finished with 18 points, and Moses Malone had 10 points and 19 rebounds and shoot 2 for 16 from the floor.

Robert Parish scored 20 points to lead the Celtics, who are playing without the injured Larry Bird.

Philadelphia 122, Indiana 114--Mike Gminski scored 8 of his 23 points in the last 3 minutes, and Ron Anderson added 22 as the 76ers defeated the Pacers at Philadelphia.

It was the fourth straight victory for Philadelphia, which leads the Eastern Conference. Indiana dropped its 11th game in 12 starts.

Washington 120, Charlotte 113--Jeff Malone scored 16 of his 29 points in the third quarter to lead the Bullets past the Hornets at Charlotte.

Trailing, 48-36, Charlotte managed to climb to within two points at the half. But Washington opened the second half with an 8-2 run and led, 98-77, at the end of the third quarter.

The Bullets withstood another Hornets rally in the fourth quarter.

San Antonio 117, Phoenix 104--Alvin Robertson scored 34 points, and the Spurs used an 18-2 run in the fourth quarter to roll past the Suns at San Antonio.

The 18-2 spurt broke open a close game and gave San Antonio a 95-81 lead with 5:56 to play. The Suns closed to 104-96 at the 2:18 mark on Tom Chambers’ two free throws.

Milwaukee 103, Miami 93--Rookie Jeff Grayer scored 9 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter as the Bucks handed the winless Heat its ninth straight loss.

The Heat, an expansion team, trailed, 83-64, entering the final period, but ran off 11 straight points to make it 93-85 with 3:26 left.

A basket by Larry Krystkowiak and a 3-point play by Grayer put Milwaukee in front, 98-85, but Miami came back again, this time scoring eight straight points, cutting the margin to 98-93 with 52 seconds remaining.

New Jersey 98, Sacramento 97--Mike McGee’s 29 points, including three 3-point baskets, led the Nets past the Kings at Sacramento.

The Kings whittled away at New Jersey’s 98-89 lead with 2:45 left by scoring the last eight points of the game, but was unable to commit a foul as time ran out.

Houston 119, Golden State 109--Guard Mike Woodson scored 21 points and the entire Houston starting lineup scored in double figures as the Rockets defeated the Warriors at Oakland.

Buck Johnson and Akeem Olajuwon added 18 points each with Olajuwon also getting 15 rebounds and 9 blocked shots.