NBA ROUNDUP : Celtics, Making a Move, Get Past Knicks, 101-94

Larry Bird may be, as Magic Johnson claims, all the way back, but there is a new look to the Boston Celtics in their bid to return to elite status in the NBA.

Until he missed last season because of surgery on both Achilles’ tendon, for a decade, Bird was the player the Celtics went to in the clutch.

When the Celtics rallied to beat the New York Knicks, 101-94, Sunday at Boston for their sixth consecutive victory, it was Reggie Lewis they turned to in the clutch.

Bird’s shooting was horrendous, so it was up to the sharpshooting third-year guard if the Celtics were to keep their slim hopes of winning the Atlantic Division alive.

The Celtics, after building a 13-point lead early in the third quarter, allowed the Knicks to fight back and take a six-point lead. The Knicks were still in front, 88-87, with 4 1/2 minutes to play. That’s when, with Bird five for 22 from the field, the Celtics turned to Lewis.

In the next 3 1/2 minutes, Lewis scored eight of the points in a 10-5 run that handed the Knicks their 24th consecutive defeat in Boston.

Except for his shooting, Bird was outstanding. He had 17 rebounds and 13 assists. He blocked a shot by Patrick Ewing, stole a pass and grabbed a key rebound in the last 90 seconds.

“We forced them to go to the man we wanted to shoot,” Knicks’ Coach Stu Jackson said. “He just didn’t miss in the clutch.”

Lewis made 12 of 18 shots and finished with 34 points.

The Celtics, who are 1 1/2 games behind the Philadelphia 76ers, can win the division by winning their last four games. They play home-and-home with Chicago, Orlando and at Philadelphia. The 76ers play Indiana and at Detroit before closing out with Boston.

Johnson said he watched his friend Bird on satellite TV and learned that Bird is back to his best form.

Utah 103, Minnesota 90--Karl Malone kept his cool at Minneapolis and the Jazz increased their lead in the Midwest Division to two games over San Antonio.

Malone, thrown out in the first half of Saturday night’s loss to Houston at Salt Lake, had 32 points to pass the 10,000-point mark in his four-year career. He also had 12 rebounds.

A crowd of 40,415 enabled the expansion Timberwolves to draw a million fans. They need 43,485 at the Metrodome in their finale to break the record of 1,066,505 set by Detroit in 1987-88.