NBA Playoffs Roundup : Knicks Complete Sweep With Overtime Win

Gerald Wilkins’ 18-foot jumper with six seconds left in overtime gave the New York Knicks a 116-115 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers Tuesday night and a sweep of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series at Philadelphia.

The Knicks, who won the first two games of the best-of-five series at New York, will meet the winner of the Chicago-Cleveland series.

The Knicks trailed, 115-114, with 12 seconds left when Charles Oakley threw the ball inbounds to Wilkins, who took several dribbles, pulled up and scored over the 76ers’ Maurice Cheeks.

Charles Barkley, who led Philadelphia with 29 points, got one more shot for the 76ers, but the ball caromed off the rim as time ran out.

Mark Jackson led the Knicks with 24 points, including three from three-point range. He got help from Wilkins, who had 22 points, and Johnny Newman and Oakley, who each had 17.

At the start of the overtime period, Wilkins and Newman scored on layups to give the Knicks a 110-106 lead. But jumpers by Ron Anderson and Barkley tied it with 3:42 left. Barkley then took a pass underneath from Anderson and dunked it to give Philadelphia a 112-110 lead with 2:40 remaining.

New York’s 7-foot center, Patrick Ewing, who scored only eight points and was in foul trouble most of the game, made two free throws for a tie with 2:17 to go.

With 54 seconds left, Tucker made a jumper from the corner that gave the Knicks a 114-112 lead. Gerald Henderson’s three-pointer put the 76ers back on top with 45 seconds left and then came Wilkins’ winning basket.

Detroit 100, Boston 85--It was only the second time in 36 playoff seasons that the Celtics, who have a National Basketball Assn.-high 16 titles, failed to win a postseason game.

Detroit outscored Boston, 27-8, in the last 9:17 at Boston and, behind Vinnie Johnson’s 25 points, completed a 3-0 sweep that ended the Celtics’ shortest playoff season since 1956.

Detroit held Boston to fewer than 100 points for the third consecutive game, and limited the Celtics to 30 points after they led, 55-51, at halftime. The Celtics had only 12 points in the fourth quarter after leading, 73-71, entering the period.

The last time the Celtics failed to survive the first round was 33 years ago, when they lost, 2-1, to Syracuse. They were swept for the first time since a 4-0 loss to Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference semifinals in 1983.

Milwaukee 117, Atlanta 113--Ricky Pierce scored a career-high 35 points and converted a go-ahead three-point play with 32 seconds left in overtime at Milwaukee as the Bucks took a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five Eastern Conference playoff series.

After Pierce’s three-point play gave Milwaukee a 112-109 lead, Atlanta’s Reggie Theus scored with 19 seconds to go. But Milwaukee’s Fred Roberts scored on a dunk and then made a free throw after a break-away foul to put the Bucks ahead, 115-111, with 13 seconds remaining.

Antoine Carr scored for Atlanta with five seconds left, but Sidney Moncrief made two free throws with three seconds remaining.

Phoenix 130, Denver 121--The Suns’ resurgence continued through the first round of their Western Conference series as they completed a three-game sweep at Denver.

Tom Chambers, recovering from a miserable first half, scored 19 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, and Phoenix rallied from a 23-point deficit.

The Suns played poorly in the first half, and trailed, 72-54, at halftime. Denver extended its lead to 84-61 early in the third quarter on Michael Adams’ three-pointer.

But Phoenix closed the deficit to 101-88 at the end of the period and then rallied in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Nuggets, 42-20. The Suns made their first 13 shots and shot 17 for 22 in the period.

Denver, playing without injured starters Fat Lever and Danny Schayes, was led by Walter Davis with 26 points. Alex English and Adams each had 22.

Chambers, who had only five points on one-of-nine shooting in the first half, shared scoring honors with Kevin Johnson, who also had 32 points, 15 in the first quarter.

Chambers, scoring on jumpers, dunks and free throws, had 15 points in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, helping the Suns close the gap to 114-109.