NBA ROUNDUP : Pistons’ Dumars Does Job on Jordan

On their way to the NBA championship last spring, the Detroit Pistons had to beat the Chicago Bulls in a tough semifinal playoff series. They won in six games.

They did it by putting heavy pressure on Michael Jordan and not letting the star beat them.

In their first game this season, the Pistons tried single coverage on the 6-6 guard. He scored 40 points and the Bulls won.

The Pistons went back to their playoff tactics Tuesday night at Auburn Hills, Mich., stopped Jordan and breezed to a 100-90 victory.

The Pistons held Jordan to five points in the second half and 16 in 34 minutes. He made only six of 17 shots. Joe Dumars, who did some of the defensive work on Jordan, scored 24 of his 28 points in the first half to help build a 59-45 lead.

Their sixth victory in a row gave the Pistons first place in the Central Division, a game ahead of the Bulls. In the first half when the game was decided, Dumars was 11 for 15 and the Pistons shot 60.9% from the field.

“We knew the Bulls like to go out early and get the lead,” Dumars said. “We decided we would do it this time.”

Chicago Coach Phil Jackson thought the Dumars-Jordan matchup was the key. “Dumars had a great game, Michael did not. We just didn’t play well. That set Michael back on his heels a bit.”

Sacramento 84, Minnesota 70--Dick Motta picked up his first victory as coach of the Kings as the team won for the second time in 15 games.

Rodney McCray led Sacramento to the home victory with 21 points. Tony Campbell scored 20 for the Timberwolves, who lost their sixth road game in a row.

Motta lost his first two games after replacing Jerry Reynolds last week.

New Jersey 87, Boston 78--It figured that the Celtics might have some trouble, especially on the road, without injured Larry Bird, but not to the extent they would score only six points in a quarter.

Playing the lowly Nets, the Celtics were outscored, 20-6, in the second quarter, scored only 51 points in the last three quarters and never were closer than five points in the second half.

After setting a franchise record low for a 12-minute period, the Celtics went almost three minutes in the third quarter before Robert Parish broke the cold spell with a basket.

New York 131, Washington 127--Patrick Ewing took charge in the closing minutes and overtime after the Bullets led all the way. It was Washington’s 13th consecutive road loss.

Ewing, who finished with 35 points, sank a baseline jumper with 1:28 left in regulation to give the Knicks a 114-113 lead.

His three-point play after a Bullet basket made it 117-115, but Mark Alarie scored at the buzzer to send it into overtime. Ewing scored six points in overtime, all on free throws.

Bernard King had 42 points for the Bullets, his best outburst of the season.

San Antonio 107, Miami 102--Terry Cummings and Willie Anderson sparked a rally in the fourth quarter at Miami that brought the Spurs from four points behind to their 22nd victory. All last season they won 21.

Cummings had 31 points and Anderson 26. Both scored four points in an 8-0 run late in the game.

It was the Heat’s 11th loss in a row.

Houston 97, Seattle 90--The SuperSonics couldn’t handle the Akeem Olajuwon show at Houston.

The high-flying center had 38 points, 25 in the second half, 15 rebounds and seven blocked shots and led the late rally that pulled out the victory. Olajuwon leads the NBA with 140 blocks.

For the second game in a row, Seattle guard Dale Ellis was ejected on two technicals.