NBA Roundup : Bol’s 21-Foot Shot Lifts Warriors Past Pacers

For six consecutive seasons Don Nelson coached the Milwaukee Bucks to division championships. Several times he did it with teams that figured to finish no better than third.

So, it is well documented that Nelson is an outstanding coach. It figured that eventually he would turn the Golden State Warriors into a winning team. What didn’t figure was that he would turn the franchise around so quickly.

When 7-foot 7-inch Manute Bol made a 21-foot jumper with 35 seconds left at Indianapolis to give the Warriors a 114-112 victory over Indiana Saturday night, it gave the Warriors 1 more victory than they had last season.

The Warriors are 21-19. After 40 games last season, they were 9-31. They finished 20-62.

Actually, Nelson, in his first season as coach of the Warriors, made only 3 changes. He moved Chris Mullin, mostly a disappointment in 3 years as a big guard, to small forward; he put rookie guard Mitch Richmond into the lineup, and acquired Bol for shot-blocking and long-range shooting.

There was no early indication that Nelson had a playoff contender, despite the obvious improvement of Mullin. In fact, it took injuries to his big men, Bol and 7-4 Ralph Sampson, for Nelson to find a winning combination.

At the time, the Warriors were 10-14. But with the smallest starting lineup in the National Basketball Assn. in years, averaging a little more than 6-5, Nelson’s team took off. They built an 8-game winning streak and won 10 of 15 while Sampson was recuperating from knee surgery. The record could have been even better. Earlier this week they lost 2 games in the closing seconds to Detroit and Philadelphia.

Sampson returned for this game, but 6-8 Larry Smith, who had filled in admirably at center, injured his ankle in the loss at Philadelphia Friday night.

Bol opened at center against the Pacers, and Sampson played only 11 minutes. Mullin, as he has in almost every game, led the team. He had 31 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists.

“Manute’s got the ability to make that kind of shot,” Mullin said. “It was a big, big shot and it won the game for us. We needed something like that.”

Utah 127, New York 104--The Knicks, completing a tough 7-game Western trip that began in Oakland on Jan. 18, were no match for the well-rested Jazz.

Karl Malone had 17 of his 41 points in the third quarter, when the Jazz broke the game open. It was the Knicks’ worst defeat of the season.

The Knicks led, 60-59, at halftime, but were only able to match Malone in the third quarter and trailed by 15.

Denver 142, Phoenix 138--It was about what you would expect in a game between the league’s highest-scoring teams.

Fat Lever, with 32 points, and Michael Adams, with 28, led the Nuggets, who ended the Suns’ 4-game winning streak.

Although they trailed from the middle of the first quarter, the Suns kept it close. Five times in the last period they pulled to within a point.

Philadelphia 123, New Jersey 105--Charles Barkley, their take-charge guy, was back in Philadelphia with his sprained right ankle in a cast.

But the 76ers came up with a replacement. Ron Anderson scored 8 of his 25 points in a 17-5 run at the start of the fourth quarter that broke open a tight game.

It was the third straight victory and 8th in the last 11 games for the 76ers.

“We had a lot of guys who elevated their games tonight, and overall the effort was fantastic,” center Mike Gminski said.

Anderson had 7 rebounds in 35 minutes, and Gerald Henderson came off the bench to score 17 points in 16 minutes.

Houston 96, San Antonio 91--Akeem Olajuwon had 20 points and 17 rebounds at San Antonio to lead the Rockets to the victory that kept them in a tie with Utah for first place in the Midwest Division.

The Rockets led by 20 in the second quarter, blew it, but rallied again. Eric (Sleepy) Floyd scored 22 points, making 4 3-pointers.

Portland 110, Atlanta 94--Clyde Drexler had 31 points and 12 rebounds at Portland to help the Trail Blazers end a 5-game losing streak.

Dominique Wilkins had 17 of his 30 points in the first half to help the Hawks take a 48-46 lead.