NBA ROUNDUP : Start Me Up: McHale Fuels Celtics, 101-98

Larry Bird is getting most of the credit for the resurgence of the Boston Celtics. He should, but another reason is Kevin McHale.

Most of this season the veteran forward has been coming off the bench trying to provide instant points. It wasn’t until Coach Jimmy Rodgers put McHale back in the starting lineup that the Celtics made their move.

McHale scored 27 points Friday night at Boston and the Celtics, after almost wasting a 31-point lead, defeated Atlanta, 101-98.

Since McHale returned to the starting lineup, the Celtics have won six out of seven to move into second place in the Atlantic Division, 1 1/2 games behind the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Celtics took a 71-40 lead with a little more than four minutes left in the third quarter before Kenny Smith, who had all his 19 points in the second half, brought the Hawks back.

Twice in the last minute the Hawks cut the Celtic lead to three points. But with 24 seconds to play, they allowed the Celtics to run out the clock.

McHale was concerned about the Celtics letting the Hawks back into the game.

“We can’t play like we did in the second half and expect to win a lot of games,” he said.

In the Celtics’ last seven games, McHale has averaged 27 points and taken much of the pressure off Bird.

While the Celtics are making a fight for another division title, the Hawks (31-36) are in danger of failing to make the playoffs. After their third consecutive loss, they are in eighth place in the East--the last playoff spot, but only a half-game game ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Charlotte 106, New York 93--They will probably stagger to a playoff spot, but the Knicks’ collapse seems nearly complete.

The Knicks couldn’t even make a game of it on the road against the team with the worst record in the NBA and lost their fifth in a row.

Dell Curry made 10 of his 14 field goal attempts, including three in a row in the closing minutes and the Hornets led almost the entire game.

The Hornets (13-53) led by 16 points in the middle of the third quarter and, despite 32 points and 14 rebounds by Patrick Ewing, the Knicks never again were closer than eight points.

The Knicks led the Atlantic Division almost from the start of the season and were still on top last Sunday. The loss to the Hornets dropped them into third place.

The slump began before Charles Oakley, their leading rebounder, was lost for the season and the Knicks show no signs of pulling out of it.

Philadelphia 115, Sacramento 99--The 76ers are playing well, but the way the Celtics are going, even Charles Barkley isn’t claiming the division title.

On a night at Philadelphia in which Barkley and Hersey Hawkins were both six for 18 from the field, the 76ers still had a rather easy time winning their third in a row.

Sacramento’s Wayman Tisdale had 27 points and 11 rebounds, but the Kings, after a good first quarter, fell to 5-28 on the road.

Hawkins finished with 21 points, seven during a 17-2 run that broke the game open early in the fourth quarter.

Chicago 102, Cleveland 95--Despite his painful thumb, Michael Jordan started firing again at Chicago.

In recent games Jordan had been reluctant to shoot, but he took 32 shots, making 18, in 40 minutes to lead the Bulls to their 15th victory in their last 17 games.

Jordan scored 14 points during the first quarter to get the Bulls going early.

The Cavaliers could have moved into eighth place in the East with a victory.

Utah 106, Golden State 91--The Warriors need to be at full strength to have a chance on the road against a good team.

With their best player, Chris Mullin, still out because of a lung infection, they were no match for the Jazz at Salt Lake City.

Karl Malone had 27 points and the Jazz, leading all the way, improved their record at home to 32-4.

Although he missed all eight of his shots from the field, the Jazz’s John Stockton had 15 assists.

Phoenix 120, Minnesota 99--The Johnsons, Eddie and Kevin, teamed up to hand the Timberwolves their 22nd consecutive loss on the road.

Eddie Johnson, who has been in a shooting slump, was 14 for 22 from the field and had 37 points. Kevin Johnson had the sixth triple-double of his career--13 points, 10 rebounds and 18 assists.

Dallas 106, Miami 103--Derek Harper clicked from long range at Miami and the Mavericks held on for their third victory in a row.

Harper sank a club-record seven three-pointers in 11 attempts and finished with 34 points.

Indiana 125, New Jersey 109--Rik Smits had 30 points and 14 rebounds in the game at Indianapolis as Pacers (34-34) handed the Nets their 22nd consecutive road loss and ninth consecutive defeat overall.