NBA Roundup : Cavaliers Stay in Division Race by Edging 76ers

The Detroit Pistons have not yet wrapped up the Central Division title or secured the best overall record in the NBA.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, after a 92-90 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers Tuesday night at Richfield, Ohio, are hanging on in the division race, but only barely.

Larry Nance, after resting his aching legs for a week, came back strong to score 20 points and make the key defensive play in the stretch to lead Cleveland.

The Cavaliers had wasted a 13-point, third-quarter lead and the teams were tied, 88-88, with two minutes remaining. Nance deflected a Philadelphia pass to Ron Harper, who drove to the basket for the layup that put Cleveland in front to stay.

With six games remaining, the Cavaliers trail the Pistons by 2 1/2 games. However, two of the Cavaliers’ remaining games are against the Pistons. The first is tonight at Auburn Hills, Mich.

The 76ers are hoping to avoid playing the Pistons in the opening round of the playoffs. If they had pulled this one out, they would just about have achieved that goal. If the 76ers finish ahead of Boston and get the seventh playoff spot, they won’t play the division winner. Now, the 76ers are just 2 1/2 games ahead of the Celtics.

However, the Celtics, 9-28 on the road, play four of their last seven away from home, while the 76ers play four of their six at home.

The Cavaliers won because they kept the ball away from Charles Barkley, who was magnificent. In 46 minutes, he scored 23 points, had 15 rebounds, stole the ball twice and had five assists. He made 11 shots, but was able to get only 15 attempts.

“They did a great defensive job on me,” Barkley said. “They were double-teaming me, and I didn’t get the shots down the stretch.”

Milwaukee 125, New Jersey 93--The Bucks are bidding for fourth place in the East, which would give them the home-court edge in the opening best-of-five playoff series.

Two spurts broke the game open at Milwaukee. The Bucks went on a 20-9 run in the last five minutes of the first half, then opened the third quarter with a 19-9 run.

The Nets, who battled the Celtics all the way Monday night only to lose in the closing seconds, wore out after about 18 minutes.

The Bucks (47-28) must finish ahead of Atlanta (47-29) and Chicago (45-30) to finish fourth.

Houston 108, Indiana 99--Mike Woodson, who had started all but one game this season before this one at Houston, came off the bench to sink seven consecutive shots in the first quarter and put the Rockets in command early.

Coach Don Chaney had felt that Woodson’s legs were getting tired, so he gave him two days off, then brought him in off the bench.

Houston forward Buck Johnson held Indiana star Chuck Person to just 10 points.

Golden State 114, Miami 98--It’s hard to get up for a team as weak as Miami, and the Warriors struggled a bit at Oakland, making 20 turnovers.

But Chris Mullin and Terry Teagle scored enough to win the sloppily played game. Mullin made eight of 15 shots and wound up with 25 points. Teagle came off the bench to score 24 points.