NBA Roundup : Warriors Beat Mavericks by 35 Points in Dallas

The Mavericks presented their new look Friday night at Dallas, but the Golden State Warriors weren’t impressed.

Althought Dallas stars Adrian Dantley and Herb Williams both played, the Chris Mullin-led Warriors handed the Mavericks their worst home defeat in history, 127-92.

The Warriors had lost 16 consecutive games over seven seasons at Reunion Arena, but they came out firing. Mullin scored 34 points and made all three of his three-point shots.

Although he was eight days late reporting after being traded by Detroit for Mark Aguirre, Dantley was given a standing ovation when he entered the game late in the first quarter.

But neither he nor the 6-foot 11-inch Williams, obtained in a trade with Indiana, will long remember their Dallas debuts. Dantley went 0 for 7, and Williams was 1 for 7.

The Mavericks trailed most of the game. They had cut the lead to seven early in the third quarter, and Dantley appeared to have made a layup to cut it to five, but he was called for a charge. The call ended the Mavericks’ rally, and the Warriors turned the game into a rout.

The Warriors improved their record to 30-21, the first time they have been nine games over .500 since 1982. A year ago after 51 games, the Warriors were 14-37.

The turnaround seems to prove there is not a better coach in the National Basketball Assn. than Don Nelson. With one of the smallest starting fives ever in the NBA (averaging just over 6-5), his team is tearing up the league.

The Warriors have used a hustling defense with an outstanding passing game on offense to post a 20-7 record since Nelson switched to the small five.

Washington 130, New York 127--Until the last 33 seconds at Baltimore, Patrick Ewing was having the best game in his career. But a goaltending call and two turnovers by the Knicks’ giant center enabled the Bullets to win the game.

Ewing scored a career-high 45 points, going 19 for 25.

Bernard King scored six of his 25 points in the last 61 seconds--two on the goaltending call against Ewing and the other four when the Bullets stole the ball from Ewing.

With eight seconds left, Ewing turned for the shot that would have given the Knicks a 129-128 lead. But John Williams stripped the ball before he could get the shot off.

Phoenix 120, Philadelphia 95--The surprising Suns continued to keep the pressure on the Lakers. In this game at Phoenix, they made only one turnover in the first half and seven in the game during a near-perfect performance.

Kevin Johnson led the rout, scoring 32 points and getting 14 assists. The Suns have won 22 of their last 24 games at home and are 1 1/2 games behind the Lakers.

Before the game, the 76ers announced that ailing Andrew Toney, a one-time All-Star, had retired because of injuries.

Chicago 106, Houston 97--Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen turned it on in the last quarter at Chicago to bring the Bulls from behind for their fifth win in a row.

Pippen, playing with five fouls, made 10 of the Bulls’ last 12 shots. Jordan finished with 33 points.

Bill Cartwright played 25 minutes off the bench for the Bulls after missing four games with a sprained ankle.

Cleveland 128, Portland 91--When a team plays a strict one-on-one defense in the NBA with no double-teaming, it is sometimes called playing it honest.

The slumping Trail Blazers found that honesty was not the best policy at Richfield, Ohio. Larry Nance ate up the one-on-one in the first half, and Brad Daugherty did the same in the second.

As a result, the Cavaliers won their 20th game in a row at home, their fourth straight overall, and improved the best record in the league to 41-12.

Nance scored 17 of his 28 points in the first half to help build a 19-point lead. After the Trail Blazers opened the second half with an 18-4 rally, Daugherty took over to get 19 of his 27 points. It was the sixth loss in a row for Portland.

Boston 125, Milwaukee 112--Danny Ainge said one of the reasons the Celtics decided to trade him was to shake the team out of its lethargy. If that was the idea, it apparently worked.

The Celtics, who folded in the stretch in most of the games on their recent trip, did a turnabout at Hartford, Conn., their home away from home.

Reggie Lewis, after shooting 1 for 7 in the first half, scored 11 points in a 31-15 spurt in the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter to stretch a three-point lead to 19 points.

The Celtics gained an impressive victory although the two new players, Ed Pinckney and Joe Kleine, did not play. Pinckney was in street clothes, and Kleine, whose wife gave birth Thursday, has not yet joined the team.

Denver 121, Utah 102--Apparently, Utah was still celebrating its Wednesday night victory over the Lakers. The Jazz were merely spectators at Denver as the Nuggets raced to an early lead and coasted to an easy victory.

The Jazz had won five in a row, including a victory at Salt Lake City Feb. 14, when they rallied from a 14-point deficit to win by 14.

Michael Adams had 32 points, including four three-pointers, to pace the Nuggets. He made two of them in the last minute of the first half to build a 58-42 lead.

Indiana 112, San Antonio 93--Chuck Person scored 10 of his 25 points in a 20-3 rally late in the third quarter at Indianapolis, enabling the Pacers to end a franchise-record 12-game slump.