NBA Roundup : Pistons Defeat Celtics in a Possible Preview

It is likely that the Boston Celtics will draw Detroit in the first round of the playoffs.

Friday night at Auburn Hills, Mich., the Pistons let them know what to expect. With Vinnie Johnson scoring 14 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, Detroit rolled to a 106-98 victory, its ninth win in a row.

The Celtics had won four in a row, and even though Larry Bird was still sidelined, they had shown improvement, getting considerable help from a newly built bench.

But it was the Pistons’ bench players--in particular, Johnson--who turned the tide in this one. Johnson scored 12 straight points in a surge that broke it open late in the game.

The Celtics fell 11 points behind in the second quarter, then fought back. With five minutes left, Johnson scored four points and Isiah Thomas two to stretch an 81-77 lead into a 10-point margin.

“I don’t know why, but I play well against the Celtics,” said Johnson, who was 13 for 20 from the field while playing for only 23 minutes.

The Celtics were without Reggie Lewis, who sprained his ankle in the win at Indiana Thursday night, so the hot one off the bench, Ed Pinckney, became a starter.

It was the 23rd loss in 31 road games for the Celtics, who are 32-31 overall.

Washington 124, New Jersey 121--Bernard King hit a fallaway three-point shot with two seconds left in overtime at East Rutherford, N.J., to climax a big comeback.

It was King’s basket with two seconds left in regulation on a jumper as he drove across the key that had sent it into overtime.

In winning for only the seventh time in 31 road games, the Bullets fought back from a 21-point third-quarter deficit. They were still down by 13 with 4:17 to go. Rookie Ledell Eackles and John Williams led the rally that culminated in King’s tying shot.

The victory moved the Bullets within 2 1/2 games of Boston in the battle for the last playoff spot in the East.

Golden State 127, Atlanta 118--Mitch Richmond scored 16 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter and keyed a 13-4 overtime run as the Warriors beat the Hawks at Oakland.

Chris Mullin scored 34 points for the Warriors.

Doc Rivers led Atlanta with 27 points, and Dominique Wilkins had 23, despite 8-for-25 shooting. Reggie Theus and Cliff Levingston each scored 22 for Atlanta.

Regulation play ended in a 114-114 tie.

Chicago 129, New York 124--In his fourth game as the point guard, Michael Jordan had 33 points and nine assists at Chicago to lead the Bulls past the Knicks.

But it was Scottie Pippen, with 31, who made the key points. With 79 seconds left, the Bulls led, 123-114. In the next 43 seconds, New York outscored the Bulls, 10-2, blowing a chance to tie when Rod Strickland missed a free throw after scoring with 36 seconds left. Eleven seconds later, Pippen was fouled and put the game away.

The Knicks lost even though they shot 60.5%. The Bulls weren’t too bad, shooting 55.4%.

Jordan and Pippen combined for 27 points in the last quarter.

Utah 118, Miami 96--Karl Malone scored 31 points, and John Stockton had 16 points and 15 assists at Salt Lake City to lead the Jazz to their seventh victory in a row. The Jazz have built their lead to 5 1/2 games in the Midwest Division.

The Heat, who fell to 10-53, the worst record in the NBA, jumped in front, 17-9. Then Malone got warmed up, and Utah romped.

Phoenix 129, Portland 124--The Suns trailed by two points at halftime at Phoenix, but playmaking guard Kevin Johnson took charge in the second half to lead them to their third consecutive victory.

Johnson finished with 39 points and 12 rebounds, and Tom Chambers came through with 34 points for the Suns, who improved their home record to 28-4.