NBA ROUNDUP : Faltering Celtics Lose to Bucks, 119-106

Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish may be the best front line to ever play together in the NBA. For the last decade they have provided most of the thrills for the Boston Celtics.

The trio is in its 10th season of stardom. All have been selected to play for the East in the All-Star game Sunday at Miami.

But the Celtics, beginning to look like a tired basketball team, are slowly sliding out of contention in the Atlantic Division.

Brad Lohaus and Fred Roberts, two former Celtics, combined for 14 points in the fourth quarter to bring the Milwaukee Bucks from behind to a 119-106 victory at the Celtics’ home away from home in Hartford, Conn.

The Celtics led, 88-87, with nine minutes left before the Bucks, keyed by Lohaus, the 7-foot center from Iowa, who spent 1 1/2 seasons with the Celtics, broke it open with a 20-7 spurt.

Lohaus made two three-point baskets to get the Bucks rolling. Roberts added eight points, and when the Celtics turned cold, it was an easy victory for Milwaukee.

The Celtics, who were battling for first place a week ago, now trail the New York Knicks by three games.

The Celtics were only eight for 26 from the field in the fourth quarter.

Bird, who led the Celtics with 24 points, had only one free throw. He made it to run his string to 66, 12 short of Calvin Murphy’s record. Parish had 16 points and McHale came off the bench to score 28.

Until the Milwaukee bench took charge, it seemed the trio would lead the Celtics to another victory.

“I think it’s remarkable,” McHale said, “that the three of us have been together for 10 seasons. Playing with Larry and the Chief for all that time has to be the highlight of my career.”

Coming back to play Boston after being traded away last season was a highlight for Lohaus.

“It’s great any time you play your old team,” Lohaus said. “And it’s an especially good feeling when you can win on their court.

“The Celtics aren’t as crisp as they were a couple of years ago. They’re still a very dangerous team. Tonight we just executed a little better down the stretch.”

The Bucks are the fifth NBA team the 6-foot-10 Roberts has played for.

“It’s fun to still be in the league,” he said. “It was satisfying because they beat us in our building.”

Detroit 105, Cleveland 96--Early in his career, Mark Aguirre, though he was the star of the Dallas Mavericks, was an unhappy young man.

He and Coach Dick Motta battled continually. The coach expected more than he was getting. Aguirre protested every time he was removed from a game.

The talented forward has finally found contentment with Detroit. It doesn’t even upset him that he now comes off the bench.

In this game at Auburn Hills, Mich., Aguirre, in his role as a sub, scored 16 points to help the Pistons win again.

“I can do more damage off the bench,” Aguirre said after scoring 14 of his points in the second quarter. “We’ve got everybody in place. We’re getting to the place where we’ve fit in the groove.”

The Piston guards helped earn the team’s eighth victory in a row. Isiah Thomas had 20 points and 11 assists, Joe Dumars had 22 points.

New York 117, Orlando 110--Patrick Ewing had 35 points, seven blocks and 13 rebounds at Orlando to lead the Knicks to their fourth victory in a row. The win gave the Knicks a half game lead over Philadelphia.

The score was tied 103-103 with four minutes left. The Knicks went on an 11-1 run to break it open.

San Antonio 105, Atlanta 94--Terry Cummings had 23 points and David Robinson had 17 and 10 rebounds as the Spurs stretched their home-court winning streak to 20 games.

Houston 108, Minnesota 101--Akeem Olajuwon and Otis Thorpe each scored 23 points for the Rockets at Houston and they held off a late charge by the Timberwolves to win.

The Timberwolves had a chance to pull into a tie with 19 seconds left, but Scott Roth committed an offensive foul and the Rockets made the last five points.

The Rockets, after scoring 69 points in the first half, had only 39 in the second half.

Indiana 138, Denver 130--Rik Smits scored four of his career-high 34 points in overtime at Denver and the Pacers ended a five-game losing streak.

Smits also had 11 rebounds and was outstanding on defense.

With the score tied at 126-126 in overtime, Chuck Person sank a jumper and Smits followed with a dunk to make it a four-point lead.

The Pacers sent the game into overtime when Detlef Schrempf sank two free throws with eight-tenths of a second left in regulation.

Dallas 100, Sacramento 90--Derek Harper and Rolando Blackman each scored 20 points at Sacramento and the Mavericks handed the Kings their sixth loss in a row.

With rumors that new coach Dick Motta is going to rebuild by getting rid of most of the players on the squad, the Kings appear to be a disorganized team.

They really fell apart in the third quarter, making just five of 21 shots and scoring just 11 points. At halftime, they trailed only 54-52.

The Mavericks had 24 points in the third quarter to build the lead to 15 points.

For the game the Kings shot only 40.2% and their record fell to 12-34.

Washington 118, Miami 100--Jeff Malone scored 24 of his 34 points in the second half and sparked a rally that lifted the Bullets at Miami.

The Bullets led only 69-66 with 4:19 left in the third quarter after five points in a 26-second span by Rony Seikaly, who led the Heat with 22 points.

Washington answered with a 23-6 run, putting the Bullets ahead, 92-72.