NBA Roundup : Olajuwon Leads Rockets’ Romp Over Celtics

The Boston Celtics are fortunate there are only seven good teams in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Assn. Otherwise, the injury to Larry Bird might cause them to miss the playoffs.

With one of the worst road records in the league, the Celtics began their toughest trip of the season on a sour note at Houston.

Akeem Olajuwon destroyed the once-mighty Celtics, scoring 35 points and grabbing 19 rebounds to lead the Rockets to a 137-123 victory. The loss, opening a six-game, nine-night trip, dropped the Celtics below .500 (23-24).

In the Western Conference, that record would put the Celtics in 10th place. Only eight teams in each conference qualify for postseason play. In the East, the record is good for the final playoff spot. In fact, the Celtics’ closest pursuer, the New Jersey Nets, have an 18-30 record.

The Celtics’ must have been left their defense in Boston. Olajuwon and his teammates shot 58.6% en route to their highest-point total of the season.

The Celtics, 5-16 away from home, have road games against Utah, Phoenix, the Lakers, Seattle and Sacramento on this trip. The only team in this group with a worse record than the Celtics is Sacramento.

Eric (Sleepy) Floyd, who took seven stitches after being struck in the head in the opening seconds, had 18 points and 10 assists.

The Rockets have won three in a row and eight of their last 10.

Milwaukee 132, New Jersey 91--The Nets were never in this game at Milwaukee. In winning their eighth in row at home, the Bucks went in front and never broke a sweat. They set season highs in shooting (61%), assists (37) and in margin of victory (41 points).

The Bucks led, 66-36, at halftime, and hit 16 of 20 shots in the third quarter to take a 41-point lead.

Cleveland 109, Miami 98--At Miami, the team with the best record in the NBA beat the team with the worst record.

Miami (5-41) made a game of it until midway through the fourth quarter, when the Cavaliers turned it on. The Cavaliers are 36-11 and improved their road record to 15-9.

“I expected us to be sluggish after the All-Star break,” Cleveland Coach Len Wilkens said. “We better be fluid tomorrow night.”

The Cavaliers meet the Knicks tonight at Richfield, Ohio.

New York 129, Charlotte 117--The Knicks trailed by eight points in the second quarter at Charlotte, then streaked to their sixth consecutive victory in their warmup for the showdown with the Cavaliers.

Johnny Newman, who scored six points in a 15-4 run that put the Knicks in front at halftime, finished with 22 points.

The Knicks made 11 of their first 13 shots to open the third quarter.

Philadelphia 113, Indiana 108--Charles Barkley had 26 points and 14 rebounds at Indianapolis as the 76ers handed the Pacers their eighth defeat in a row.

Derek Smith had 10 points in 21 minutes in his debut with the 76ers. His jumper with less than five minutes remaining ended a furious Indiana rally and raised the 76ers lead to 102-96.

Atlanta 106, Chicago 98--John Battle came off the bench to score eight points in the fourth quarter and Dominique Wilkins scored 36 as the Hawks ended a two-game losing streak with a victory at Atlanta.

Michael Jordan, an 84% free-throw shooter, missed six in a row from the line in the closing minutes to prevent the Bulls from getting close. Jordan was 9 for 16 from the line but wound up with 32 points.

Seattle 129, San Antonio 113--Nate McMillan had a triple-double and Xavier McDaniel scored 30 points at Seattle to help the SuperSonics hand the Spurs their fourth loss in a row and their 14th in the last 17 games.

McMillan had 10 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists. Dale Ellis, an outstanding performer in the All-Star game, had 22 points.

With the Lakers losing, the Sonics moved to within 2 1/2 games of first place in the Pacific Division.

Utah 119, Denver 105--The Jazz, trailing by 14 points at halftime on its home court, exploded in the third quarter behind Karl Malone and John Stockton.

In the 12-minute period, the Jazz outscored Denver, 43-14. Malone, the most valuable player in the All-Star game, finished with 28 points and 14 rebounds. Stockton had 22 points and 21 assists.

The win kept Utah a game behind Houston in the Midwest Division.

Washington 107, Sacramento 99--Ledell Eackles came to the rescue for the Bullets in this game at Sacramento.

Eackles scored 10 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter as the Bullets wiped out a three-point deficit.

Bernard King made only 4 of 14 for the Bullets.