NBA Roundup : Suns Keep Heat on Lakers With a Rout of Miami

Magic Johnson has guaranteed that the Lakers will win the Pacific Division, but it’s become obvious that they’ll have to do it on their own.

The Phoenix Suns aren’t about to make it easy. They intend to finish out the season with victories.

Kevin Johnson scored 10 of his 21 points in the third quarter Wednesday night at Miami to lead the Suns to a 117-91 victory, tying the club record of nine straight wins.

The Suns, who trail the Lakers by just one defeat, have two games left. They play Houston at home Friday night and are at San Antonio Saturday night. The way the Suns are playing, they figure to win both games.

Meanwhile, the Lakers have three games left. Tonight, they play Sacramento at the Forum; Friday night, they are at Portland, and they close out the regular season Sunday at home against Seattle. If the teams wind up tied, the Lakers, with a better record in the division, will win the division title.

The Suns, who won their two previous games by 55 and 46 points respectively, trailed, 60-59, midway through the third period in Miami.

Kevin Johnson made five shots in a row, and Phoenix led, 73-66. Late in the period, Eddie Johnson, who came off the bench to score 29 points, made successive three-pointers, and the Suns led, 85-72. The Heat (14-67) never again threatened.

The Suns didn’t really start moving until after Pearl Washington of Miami and the Suns’ Armon Gilliam got into a fight just before the end of the third period with the Suns leading, 77-69. Washington and Gilliam continued their fight on the way to the locker room after being ejected.

Washington suffered a cut lip, but Gilliam seemed to be unharmed. Washington was gone by the time the game ended, and Gilliam would not comment.

“There will be a league investigation,” Coach Ron Rothstein of the Heat said. Sun Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons refused to comment.

A player who was willing to comment was Kevin Johnson.

“It’s unfortunate, something like that,” he said. “But the pushing, the shoving, the calls, the whole bit--the game got a little choppy. It really brought us together and we won going away.”

The Suns first won nine in a row in the 1971-72 season.

Miami, in its final home game, lost its seventh straight game.

It was the makeup of a game postponed Jan. 17 because of the riots in Miami.

Detroit 115, Indiana 105--With the home-court advantage sewed up for the playoffs, the Pistons do not want to lose their edge.

The night after clinching top honors, they came out firing at Auburn Hills, Mich., sinking their first 10 shots, and went on to win their 19th game in a row at home.

The Pistons, 61-19 overall and 35-4 at home for club records, used their regulars sparingly. They played center Bill Laimbeer only four minutes.

However, they started Isiah Thomas for the first time since he broke the index finger on his left hand 10 days ago. With the finger well protected, Thomas played 24 minutes, scored 18 points and had seven assists.

Despite the fast start, the Pistons didn’t really take charge until early in the second quarter. From a 32-32 tie, they went ahead, 52-37.

Atlanta 100, Milwaukee 92--Dominique Wilkins scored 31 points at Milwaukee, and the surging Hawks won their eighth in a row to clinch home-court advantage in the best-of-five opening-round series.

The Hawks, who have dominated the Bucks all season, will probably play Milwaukee in the first round. During the regular season, Atlanta won all six games.

The Hawks were holding a 76-65 lead after three quarters, when Milwaukee Coach Del Harris, apparently trying to stir up his team, received his second technical with 9:35 left. The Bucks responded with eight points in a row to cut the lead to 79-75.

Then Wilkins had six points, and Glen Rivers scored four in a 10-1 spurt that broke it open.

Houston 99, San Antonio 84--The Spurs dominated play and led after three quarters, 75-73, at San Antonio.

Then, a combination of tough defense and poor San Antonio shooting turned the game around. The Spurs scored only nine points, making just four of 24 shots in the last 12 minutes.

Akeem Olajuwon had 29 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocked shots to pace the Rockets to their third victory in a row.