NBA ROUNDUP : Portland Stalled by Warriors While Trying to Pass the Lakers

The Portland Trail Blazers, the best team in the NBA during the month of January, appeared to be on their way past the Lakers into sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division.

They came out firing Wednesday night at Oakland and built an 18-point lead over the Golden State Warriors in the second quarter.

But Mitch Richmond and Tim Hardaway rallied the Warriors, and Chris Mullin came through in the clutch to give the Warriors a 135-130 victory to end the Trail Blazers’ seven-game winning streak.

Mullin, who was one for seven in the first half, scored six points in the last two minutes, had a key steal and a rebound, and the Warriors kept the Lakers in first place.

Richmond, one for six from the field in the first half, which ended with Portland leading, 66-53, sparked the Warriors in the third quarter. He made 13 points in 10 minutes and at the end of three quarters it was 96-96.

Richmond scored five more points in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter to give the Warriors a lead they never relinquished.

The Blazers, with Clyde Drexler scoring 38 points, fought back from an eight-point deficit, but never did catch up. When Mullin took charge in the last two minutes, the Warriors improved their home record to 17-5.

The Warriors, only 3-17 on the road, have won two in a row. Golden State made 49 of 52 free throws.

The Blazers, 10-10, on the road, have a 31-12 record and trail the Lakers by half a game.

San Antonio 129, Charlotte 95--Terry Cummings had his biggest night as a pro and ruined the debut of Hornets’ interim coach, Gene Littles.

Cummings had 52 points and 11 rebounds at San Antonio and the Spurs ran away in the third quarter after leading by only two points at halftime.

Littles, formerly a Charlotte assistant, replaced Dick Harter, who was fired earlier in the day. The Hornets are 8-33.

Philadelphia 112, Indiana 108--Charles Barkley has said this 76er team is the best he has played on, better than the club that had Julius Erving and a younger Moses Malone.

If that’s true, it’s probably because Barkley is a better player than he has ever been.

Barkley had nine of his 31 points and eight of his 16 rebounds in the fourth quarter at Indianapolis to lead the 76ers to their ninth consecutive victory.

Their fourth win in a row moved the 76ers into a tie for first place in the Atlantic Division with New York.

“The Erving-Malone team had great talent,” Barkley said, “but it didn’t play hard the whole game. This team does.”

Boston 97, New York 91--Larry Bird, nearly a perfect free-throw shooter, scored the last six points of the game at Boston, all from the line.

Bird has a string of 59 consecutive free throws, and the Knicks’ losing streak at Boston Garden stretched to 23 games.

The Knicks failed to score in the last 85 seconds and made the mistake of fouling Bird three times.

Calvin Murphy holds the consecutive free throw record of 78.

The sixth loss in the last seven games tightened the division race. The Knicks and 76ers are tied, one-half game ahead of the Celtics.

The Celtics lost guard Dennis Johnson with a torn right quadriceps when he was knocked to the floor by Charles Oakley in the first quarter. There was no word on how long he will be out.

Detroit 133, Washington 109--It was a romp for the Pistons at Auburn Hills, Mich., just as soon as Mark Aguirre came off the bench in the second quarter.

Aguirre, who was injured 10 days ago in a game with the Lakers, scored 12 of his 25 points in the second period when Detroit outscored the Bullets, 39-16.

Dallas 98, Houston 91--The Rockets appeared to be in a position to end the Mavericks’ winning streak. They held an 88-83 lead with 8:36 left at Dallas.

Then, somebody put a lid on the basket, Houston went eight minutes without scoring and the Mavericks won their eighth in a row.

Akeem Olajuwon broke the dry spell by sinking one out of two free throws with 33 seconds left. That cut the Dallas lead to 96-89.

Minnesota 110, Seattle 82--Tod Murphy had three three-pointers in a 21-0 third quarter spurt at Minneapolis that enabled the Timberwolves to escape the cellar in the Midwest Division.