NBA ROUNDUP : Cavaliers Win, Pull Closer to Fading Pacers

The Indiana Pacers won 19 of their first 28 games this season and led the Central Division. The Cleveland Cavaliers, without Brad Daugherty and Larry Nance, won only 11 of 28 and were near last place.

As the stretch drive approaches, the Pacers are fading and the Cavaliers are charging into playoff contention.

Guards Mark Price and Craig Ehlo made 12 of their first 16 shots Saturday night at Richfield, Ohio, to lead the Cavaliers to a 118-102 victory over the Pacers.

It was the fifth loss in a row for the Pacers and the fourth consecutive victory for the Cavaliers. In the battle for the last two playoff spots in the East, Atlanta (31-33) is seventh, Indiana (31-34) is eighth and Cleveland (29-34) is ninth.

Price had 17 of his 26 points in the first half and Ehlo had 15 of his 22 to help the Cavaliers take a 65-50 lead. The Pacers made a run early in the fourth quarter but never were closer than seven points. With only a 99-92 lead, the Cavaliers ran off eight points in a row, five by Daugherty.

“We wanted to push the ball, but they were the ones to do it,” Price said. “We were surprised at the tempo they came out with. So we just forced them to keep it up and I think they wore out.”

Not too long ago, the Pacers’ coach, Dick Versace, was a candidate for coach of the year. Now his club may not even make the playoffs.

Milwaukee 123, New York 111--Another team on the skids is the Knicks. They can’t even win at home against a wounded opponent.

The Bucks were missing center Jack Sikma, leading scorer Ricky Pierce and starting forward Greg Anderson.

But, led by backup center Brad Lohaus, the Bucks’ patchwork team won handily at Madison Square Garden, where the Knicks opened the season 22-2.

Larry Krystkowiak, playing his second game after being sidelined for a year because of knee surgery, had 18 points, four rebounds and five assists in 36 minutes.

Patrick Ewing was the only bright spot for the Knicks, getting 37 points and 15 rebounds.

“Every player stepped in and played hard,” Buck Coach Del Harris said. “This was our most significant win.”

Chicago 114, Philadelphia 109--The thumb he jammed during Friday’s loss to Detroit didn’t seem to bother Michael Jordan in this game at Chicago.

Jordan had 35 points and rookie Stacey King had 10 in the fourth quarter as the Bulls prevented the 76ers from taking over first place in the Atlantic Division.

Charles Barkley had 26 points for the 76ers.

Atlanta 119, Washington 92--Dominique Wilkins recovered quickly from his sprained ankle, coming back to score 17 points in 22 minutes to lead the Hawks.

The game was played in Baltimore and probably ended the Bullets’ playoff hopes. The Bullets trail Indiana, eighth in the East, by 7 1/2 games.

The game was delayed 30 minutes because unseasonly warm weather and 100% humidity made the floor wet.

Sacramento 122, Utah 109--The Jazz, one of the teams trying to overtake the Lakers in the West, lost a game it could ill afford to lose at Sacramento.

After the Jazz rallied from a 10-point deficit to tie, the Kings scored a record 24 points in the five-minute overtime.

Antoine Carr scored six of his 29 points in overtime as the Kings ended Utah’s four-game winning streak.

The defeat dropped the Jazz 2 1/2 games behind the Lakers in the battle for the West’s best record.

San Antonio 111, Miami 98--On a night at San Antonio when David Robinson played like a rookie, teammate Terry Cummings took charge. He had 28 points and 12 rebounds. Robinson was six for 20 from the field, finishing with 16 points and nine rebounds.