NBA Roundup : Cavaliers Prove Too Much for Celtics, 112-84

The National Basketball Assn. has come to this: the Cleveland Cavaliers are dominating the Boston Celtics.

The Cavaliers defeated the Celtics, 112-84, Friday night at Richfield, Ohio, beating them for the sixth time in 8 games and for the sixth straight time at home.

The 28-point victory equaled the Cavaliers’ biggest-ever margin over Boston. They beat the Celtics by 28 in a March 1977 game.

Cleveland center Brad Daugherty, who equaled a career high with 17 rebounds, said the dominance is not because of superior athletic ability.

“They have good athletes, too,” Daugherty said. “They have great athletes. You don’t play in the NBA on smarts and savvy.

“I think what we’ve been able to do is play good transition defense and run, with the defense working hard for steals and blocked shots.”

The Cavaliers limited Boston to 34% shooting.

Boston’s Danny Ainge, who made just 1 of 9 shots, analyzed the game simply. “Just pitiful,” he said.

Ron Harper scored 23 points to lead the Cavaliers, who are off to their fastest start in 12 seasons. The Cavaliers’ 10-3 record is their best after 13 games since they went 11-2 in 1976-77.

The Celtics (8-8), who have Larry Bird out after heel surgery, also played without guard Dennis Johnson, who stayed home because of a sore Achilles’ tendon. But the Cavaliers were without Larry Nance, out with a bruised thigh.

Cleveland often beat Boston downcourt, running up leads as big as 22 points in the first half and 32 in the second half.

Mike Sanders scored 19 points, and Daugherty had 16 for Cleveland. John (Hot Rod) Williams, who filled in for Nance, scored 15.

Detroit 120, Washington 114--Adrian Dantley scored 28 points, and Vinnie Johnson had 9 points in the fourth quarter as the Pistons held off a second-half comeback bid and beat the Bullets at Landover, Md.

The Pistons, with the NBA’s best record at 12-3, threatened to break the game open in the first half. Detroit, which never trailed, led by as many as 15 points in the first quarter and had a 62-39 advantage late in the first half.

Detroit won despite 37 points by Washington’s Bernard King, including 21 in the third period as Washington, which trailed, 61-41, at halftime, cut the deficit to 87-80.

The Bullets narrowed the gap to 94-90 with 8:37 to play, but the Pistons scored 5 consecutive points to begin a 10-2 run that put them ahead, 104-92.

Portland 105, Miami 102--At Miami, the Heat fell to 0-13 but came close to winning for the first time.

The Trail Blazers came from behind in the final 2 minutes to put the Heat within 2 losses of the NBA record for worst start, set by Denver in 1949 and tied by Cleveland in 1970 and Philadelphia in 1972.

Miami missed 4 3-point shots in the final 20 seconds, including a desperate hook from the corner by Rony Seikaly that bounced off the rim at the buzzer.

Clyde Drexler scored 36 points to lead the Trail Blazers, who outscored the Heat, 39-10 at the free-throw line.

The Heat led at halftime for the first time, 55-41.

Milwaukee 103, New Jersey 92--Terry Cummings had 18 of his 32 points in the third quarter, and the Bucks scored 16 of the first 21 points of the fourth quarter to defeat the Nets at East Rutherford, N.J.

The Bucks, who trailed by 14 points in the second quarter, were behind, 55-44, early in the third period before Cummings took over. He scored 12 points in an 18-4 spurt that lifted Milwaukee into a 62-59 lead.

New York 104, Dallas 101--Trent Tucker’s layup with 46 seconds left capped a comeback that gave the Knicks a victory at Dallas.

Dallas led, 101-97, with 1:35 to play, but 2 free throws by Patrick Ewing, who led the Knicks with 23 points, and Charles Oakley’s basket off an offensive rebound with 1:07 left tied the score.

Ewing set up Tucker’s decisive basket by blocking Brad Davis’ shot in the lane and passing to a streaking Tucker.

With Dallas trailing, 103-101, the Mavericks’ Derek Harper misfired a 3-point attempt with 14 seconds left, and Gerald Wilkins hit a free throw with 1 second remaining to ice the Knicks’ 10th victory in their last 13 games.

Denver 129, Golden State 102--Lafayette Lever had 29 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists as the Nuggets beat the Warriors at Denver for the 11th straight time and the 17th time in 18 games.

Phoenix 110, Houston 95--Tom Chambers scored 21 of his season-high 36 points in the second half, and Kevin Johnson scored 7 of his 18 in a decisive 61-second span of the third quarter as the Suns won at Phoenix.