NBA Roundup : Cavaliers Beat Bulls for Sixth Straight Victory

The Cleveland Cavaliers, with the best record in the National Basketball Assn., won their sixth straight game Tuesday night as Larry Nance scored 8 of his 18 points in the final 2:47 in a 107-96 victory over the Chicago Bulls at Chicago.

The Cavaliers withstood a Bulls rally and raised their record to 19-5 overall and 9-3 on the road, also an NBA best.

Cleveland’s fourth straight win away from home also extended its Central Division lead to 1 1/2 games over the idle Detroit Pistons and gave it 11 victories in December, tying a franchise record.

Mark Price added 17 points, Craig Ehlo 16 and Brad Daugherty 15 for Cleveland.

“We’ve got a lot of options, which makes us tough to defend,” Cleveland Coach Lenny Wilkens said.

Michael Jordan, who averaged 41.5 points in 11 games against the Cavaliers last season, led the Bulls with 43 points and 12 rebounds. “It was one of those games where we couldn’t get anything going,” Jordan said. “Something had to happen, and I was the best candidate for it.”

Atlanta 128, New York 126--Moses Malone hit 2 free throws with 25 seconds left as the Hawks held off the Knicks at Atlanta.

After Malone sank the free throws to make it 127-124, the Knicks’ Gerald Wilkins raced downcourt for a layup with 16 seconds left. After a timeout, Charles Oakley fouled Cliff Levingston, who hit one of two free throws to give the Hawks a 2-point lead with 13 seconds remaining.

The Knicks, who had run out of timeouts, had a chance to tie but Gerald Wilkins’ shot in the lane was blocked at the buzzer by his brother, Dominique.

Reggie Theus led Atlanta with 32 points, 22 in the first half, while Dominique Wilkins and Malone added 30 apiece.

Oakley led the Knicks with 27 points and 18 rebounds. Patrick Ewing, who left the game briefly with a twisted left knee early in the first quarter, returned to score 16 points.

Golden State 119, Philadelphia 112--Rookie Mitch Richmond scored a season-high 34 points, and Winston Garland hit 6 free throws in the final 2 minutes at Oakland to pace the Warriors.

Garland’s 2 free throws with 1:43 remaining gave Golden State the lead for good at 111-110 and started a run of 8 straight points, clinching the victory.

Chris Mullin added 26 points for the Warriors, who were playing without center Ralph Sampson, who will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Friday to repair torn cartilage. He will be lost to the team for at least 4 weeks.

Manute Bol started at center and had 7 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocked shots before fouling out with 4:53 to play. Larry Smith led Golden State with 14 rebounds.

Charles Barkley had 23 points and 15 rebounds for the 76ers, who also got 23 points from Hersey Hawkins. Mike Gminski had 13 rebounds.

Houston 101, Miami 93--Akeem Olajuwon scored 14 of his 22 points in the second half as the Rockets came back from a 9-point deficit to beat the Heat at Miami.

The victory was the sixth in a row for Houston, the longest streak for the Rockets since 1985. The loss ended Miami’s first winning streak ever at 2 games and dropped its record to 3-22.

Although Olajuwon struggled through a 6-for-16 shooting night from the field, he hit 10 of 14 free throws.

Otis Thorpe had 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Rockets. Eric (Sleepy) Floyd and Buck Johnson added 18 points each.

Jon Sundvold led the Heat with a career-high 25 points. Sylvester Gray added 13 for the Heat.

Dallas 110, San Antonio 101--Mark Aguirre scored 33 points as the Mavericks beat the short-handed Spurs at Dallas.

Alvin Robertson scored 25 points for San Antonio, which has lost 11 of its last 12 games.

The Spurs were without starters Frank Brickowski and Johnny Dawkins. Brickowski missed the game with the flu and Dawkins did not make the trip due to a nerve problem in his left leg.

Maverick center James Donaldson collected his 1,000th career blocked shot late in the third quarter. Roy Tarpley had 16 rebounds for Dallas.

Milwaukee 120, Indiana 107-- Terry Cummings scored 29 points and Larry Kristkowiak added 26 as the Bucks handed the Pacers their 13th consecutive road loss.

Scott Skiles of the Pacers and Jay Humphries of the Bucks were ejected during a fourth-quarter brawl.

Chuck Person scored 32 points and Wayman Tisdale 19 for Indiana, the NBA’s only winless team on the road.

Denver 130, Boston 109--Alex English scored 37 points as the Nuggets ended a 3-game losing streak by beating the Celtics at Denver.

Michael Adams added 22 points and Danny Schayes had 19. Kevin McHale led the Celtics with 23 points, Danny Ainge added 22 and Brian Shaw had 21.