NBA ROUNDUP : Trail Blazers Continue to Win on East Coast

It was only a few years ago that, except for the Lakers, almost all the power in the NBA was in the East. There has been a major switch.

Western teams such as Portland, Phoenix and Utah go east and find success.

The Trail Blazers are the scourge of the Atlantic Division.

Clyde Drexler scored 12 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter to lead Portland to a 104-100 victory over the 76ers Friday night at Philadelphia, knocking Charles Barkley & Co. out of first place.

The Blazers, who are 10-1 against the division, wind up play against the Atlantic tonight against the Washington Bullets. Their only loss was by a point to the 76ers at Portland Feb. 18.

It was the fourth consecutive victory for Portland, whose 42-18 record is the fourth best in the NBA.

The Blazers led, 100-99, when Barkley, who had 31 points and 11 rebounds, was fouled with 31 seconds left. Barkley made a free throw to tie it. He missed the second, and four seconds later Jerome Kersey made a jump shot to put Portland ahead to stay.

The 76ers had taken over the division lead with victories over Boston and New York, but now trail the Knicks by percentage points.

“This was some trip,” Coach Rick Adelman said. “We beat the top three teams in this division. Maybe people back here will realize we are a good team.”

Phoenix 134, Indiana 130--There are only six teams in the league with winning records on the road. Three, including the Suns, are in the Pacific Division.

Tom Chambers led Phoenix to its fourth consecutive victory on this trip, scoring 41 points. The Suns are 16-14 on the road.

Utah 108, Milwaukee 100--Karl Malone and Thurl Bailey sent the visiting Jazz off to a sizzling start, and it romped to its third consecutive victory on this trip.

Malone finished with 40 points and 12 rebounds, helping the Jazz build a 16-point lead after three quarters.

Bailey had 20 points as the Jazz increased its lead in the Midwest Division to 4 1/2 games.

Detroit 99, New Jersey 95--The one team that doesn’t fear the West is Detroit. Although the Pistons usually play down to their opponents, they are usually good enough to win.

They increased their winning streak to seven games when Isiah Thomas scored eight of his 20 points in the closing minutes at East Rutherford, N.J.

Detroit, which has won 20 of its past 21 games, was hard pressed to come back from a 14-point deficit against a team that has won only three of its past 23.

With Sam Bowie sidelined because of flu and his backup, Chris Dudley, injured, Charles Shackleford played center for the Nets. He had 15 points and 24 rebounds.

Washington 115, Boston 108--Jeff Malone scored 43 points at Hartford, the Celtics’ other home, and the Bullets handed Boston its third consecutive home loss. It’s the first time that has happened since Larry Bird joined the team in 1979.

Bernard King scored 10 of his 29 in a fourth-quarter spurt that broke it open. Bird played all 48 minutes and had 27 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists.

Atlanta 107, Seattle 97--Dominique Wilkins scored 15 of his 28 points in the third quarter, and the Hawks prevented a sweep of the travelers from the West for the night.

The Hawks, battling to gain the final playoff berth in the East, shot 55.6% from the field to end a two-game losing streak.