NBA ROUNDUP : Timberwolves Surprise Slumping Knicks

Although they are leading the Atlantic Division, the New York Knicks certainly are not peaking down the stretch.

Tony Campbell scored 27 points and Pooh Richardson had 20 points and 11 assists Thursday night as the Minnesota Timberwolves downed the Knicks, 102-82, at Minneapolis.

Minnesota held Patrick Ewing to four points in the second half while handing New York its fifth defeat in seven games. The Knicks have lost four consecutive times in their first trip to an expansion city.

Ewing led the cold-shooting Knicks with 24 points as New York scored a season-low point total. Their previous low was 85 points on Nov. 22. New York shot 29% in the third quarter and Ewing went scoreless.

Campbell scored 18 points as the Timberwolves built a 54-43 halftime lead.

Randy Breuer’s 10 points sparked Minnesota to a 12-6 run starting the second half and the Knicks never got back in it. Campbell’s free throw with 5:28 to go in the third quarter upped the Timberwolves’ lead to 69-49 as the Knicks went scoreless for more than three minutes.

Detroit 110, San Antonio 98--Joe Dumars scored 21 points and James Edwards had 20 as the Pistons won their ninth consecutive game and 22nd in 23 outings by defeating the Spurs at Auburn Hills, Mich.

The Pistons took a one-game lead over the Lakers in their battle for the best record in the league.

The Spurs went scoreless for 6:26 of the second half and had their three-game winning streak broken.

Terry Cummings scored 25 points for the Spurs, but the Pistons held rookie David Robinson to 16 and shut him out in the third quarter, when Detroit extended a three-point halftime lead to 16.

Isiah Thomas had 18 assists for the Pistons.

Milwaukee 96, Washington 91--Jay Humphries scored 11 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, including a go-ahead three-point play with 47 seconds left, as the Bucks rallied to beat the Bullets at Milwaukee.

The Bullets tied the score, 88-88, on Mark Alarie’s three-point play, but Humphries answered with his three-point play to put Milwaukee ahead.

Paul Pressey made one free throw and pushed Milwaukee’s lead to 92-88 with 17.7 seconds left.

Jeff Malone scored 26 points for Washington, while Brad Lohaus had 17 points and 16 rebounds for Milwaukee.

Utah 117, Seattle 95--Karl Malone scored 38 points and John Stockton had 20 assists as the Jazz routed the SuperSonics at Salt Lake City to move four games ahead of San Antonio in the Midwest Division.

Olden Polynice came off the bench to score 18 points. No Seattle starter scored more than 10 points, while Malone had 10 in each of the first three quarters.

It was the 20th 20-assist game in Stockton’s six years with the Jazz, who won for the 20th time in 21 home games.

Portland 128, Golden State 121--Terry Porter scored 28 points and the Trail Blazers won their seventh consecutive game--the fifth in a row on the road--by defeating the Warriors at Oakland.

Kevin Duckworth had 10 of his 20 points in the final quarter for the Trail Blazers, helping them hold off Golden State’s rally from a 14-point deficit.

Chris Mullin scored 26 points for the Warriors, who trailed, 105-91, with 7:11 left, then closed the deficit to three points in the final minute.

Portland, which trails the Lakers by two games in the Pacific Division, out-rebounded Golden State, 53-35, led by Buck Williams with 16 rebounds.

Houston 92, Sacramento 86--Vernon Maxwell scored 12 of his 18 points in the final 7 1/2 minutes, lifting the Rockets to a victory over the Kings at Sacramento.

Buck Johnson scored 19 points and Akeem Olajuwon had 17 points and 22 rebounds for the Rockets.