NBA ROUNDUP : Chambers Scores 56 Points, 40 in Half

Tom Chambers is one of the finest shooting big men in the NBA, but the Phoenix Suns’ 6-foot-10 forward never had a roll to match the one he had in the first half of Sunday’s game against the Golden State Warriors.

Chambers had 40 points at halftime and finished with a team-record and career-high 56 as the Suns defeated the Warriors, 131-113, at Oakland to end the Warriors’ 15-game home winning streak.

“In my nine years in the league I haven’t felt better about my shot than I did today,” said Chambers, whose previous high was 46 points.

Chambers’ first-half points were the most ever allowed by the Warriors. Wilt Chamberlain had the previous high in a half against the Warriors with 36 for the Philadelphia 76ers on March 3, 1966.

“It was nice to get the big half and the career-high, but it wouldn’t have meant anything without the win,” Chambers said. “What really feels good is that we beat a very good team that was on a roll at home.”

Chambers made his first 10 shots and finished 19 for 29 as the Suns won their fifth game in a row. Chambers was five short of Karl Malone’s NBA season-high 61 points for Utah against Milwaukee on Jan. 27.

“He (Chambers) was just incredible,” said Mitch Richmond, who had 24 points for Golden State. “We were playing pretty well, but he was on fire.”

Richmond pulled the Warriors to within 88-78 in the third quarter, but the Warriors were unable to get the deficit under 10 points. The Suns went on a 7-0 run at the end of the quarter to take a 103-85 lead into the final quarter.

Warrior Coach Don Nelson received two of seven technical fouls assessed against his team.

“We were pretty frustrated,” Warrior forward Chris Mullin said. “We were playing very hard, but they were playing very well and we couldn’t catch them.”

Washington 116, Indiana 97--Ledell Eackles scored 13 of his 19 points in the final 16 minutes as the Bullets won in a one-night return to Baltimore , but the outcome was overshadowed by two ejections, seven technical fouls and a post-game shoving match involving players and coaches.

The Bullets were leading, 72-70, when Washington’s Bernard King and Indiana’s Chuck Person received technicals and were ejected with 4:49 remaining in the third quarter. Person threw King to the floor, then was tackled by Darrell Walker and both benches emptied.

“No way was I trying to start something,” Person said. “I was just trying to tighten up my defense. Things got a little riled up.”

Walker got a technical early in the fourth period when he intervened in a pushing match between Jeff Malone and Reggie Miller.

Miller and Walker renewed their argument on the way into the corridor that leads to both dressing rooms, and Bullet Coach Wes Unseld and Pacer Coach Dick Versace had to be separated by security personnel.

“Me and Reggie just had a few words,” Walker said. “He said, ‘If you want to go, we can go,’ and I said, ‘Sounds good to me,’ but nothing happened.”

Versace offered a different version.

“He (Walker) and Reggie were kind of jawing a little, but it was kind of innocent, then Eackles came over and attacked him,” Versace said. “He just ran over and threw a block at him.

“Then Wes came over and threatened me, and I didn’t allow him to do that.”

The game officials had no comment on the post-game exchanges, and offered little clarification of the King and Person ejections.

Philadelphia 110, Portland 109--Hersey Hawkins’ 16-foot jump shot with five seconds left at Portland gave the 76ers their seventh victory in nine road games.

Portland’s loss, coupled with the Lakers’ victory over Boston Sunday, dropped the Trail Blazers 1 1/2 games behind the Lakers in the Pacific Division.

Clyde Drexler, Portland’s leading scorer this season, left midway through the third quarter with a sprained left ankle and did not return. Terry Porter took over for the Trail Blazers, scoring 21 of his 31 points after Drexler’s injury.

Porter’s two foul shots put the Trail Blazers ahead, 109-108, with 19 seconds left. The 76ers ran a play for Hawkins, who made his shot, and Porter missed a 10-foot try in the lane at the buzzer.

Charles Barkley scored 27 points, Hawkins had 16 and Johnny Dawkins 15 for the 76ers.

Jerome Kersey scored 19 points and Kevin Duckworth had 15 for the Trail Blazers.

Chicago 111, Milwaukee 88--Michael Jordan scored 39 points and the Bulls went on a 18-0 run in the fourth quarter at Milwaukee while holding the Bucks scoreless for more than seven minutes.

Horace Grant scored 18 points and Scottie Pippen had 16 respectively, for the Bulls, who beat the Bucks for the ninth time in the last 10 meetings.

“We did all the necessary things to totally take them out of what they wanted to do,” said Jordan, who made 15 of 26 shots. “That comes from our defense.

“We stopped their motion game, rebounded the ball, got out on the break. Our defense turned into our offense.”

Greg Anderson had 16 points and Jeff Grayer had 14 for the Bucks, who shot 35%. The Bucks’ 14 fourth-quarter points was the second lowest output for one period this season.

Jordan scored 18 points during the third quarter to give the Bulls an 83-74 lead.

The Bucks made the first two baskets of the fourth quarter, but Bulls pulled away behind Jordan.

Seattle 85, Charlotte 70--Xavier McDaniel scored 20 points and sparked a third-quarter burst as the Super Sonics won at Charlotte, N.C.

The Hornets’ output was the lowest in the franchise’s brief history, falling below the 74 points the Hornets scored in a 20-point loss to Utah 10 days ago. Only Brian Rowsom’s dunk with 14 seconds left prevented the Hornets from tying the New Jersey Nets for the lowest total in the NBA this season.

The Hornets made only two of the 11 shots they took in the third period and made just nine of 32 in the second half.

Minnesota 108, Atlanta 98--Tony Campbell had 26 points and a career-high eight assists at Minneapolis in leading the Timberwolves past the Hawks for their sixth victory in their last seven home games.

Tyrone Corbin added 26 points and Pooh Richardson had 23 as the Timberwolves won their third straight game.

Dominique Wilkins scored 21 points for Atlanta.