NBA ROUNDUP : A Night for King as Bullets Win

For one night, Bernard King was better than Michael Jordan.

King scored 18 of his 44 points in the fourth quarter--including Washington’s last 12 points--and made a free throw with 1:03 left to give the Bullets a 103-102 victory over the Chicago Bulls Saturday night at Landover, Md.

“I worked extremely hard during the off-season on my jump shot,” King said. “I think it was obvious tonight. In the first half I struggled, but in the fourth quarter I didn’t hesitate to shoot the ball and fortunately it worked out.”

King made 14 of 30 shots and 16 of 21 free throws.

Jordan, who had 28 points, missed a 12-foot jumper with 38 seconds left and, after a miss by Washington, had his last-second layup blocked by Harvey Grant.

“He leaned in trying to get some body contact, so I went to the side as he was going up,” Grant said. “We knew he was going to drive, and luckily I was there to block the shot.”

Washington led, 99-95, but Chicago scored five points in a row to take the lead. King made a basket to put the Bullets ahead and added a free throw to make the score 102-100. Two free throws by Chicago’s B.J. Armstrong tied the game.

Boston 106, New York 103--Larry Bird and Reggie Lewis warmed up in the fourth quarter and rallied the Celtics from a 17-point deficit to a victory over the Knicks at New York.

Lewis scored 10 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and Bird had eight of his 21 in the final period when the Celtics took the lead for the first time. At halftime, Bird was two for 11 with five points and Lewis three for nine with six points.

Patrick Ewing had 27 points, 20 rebounds and six blocked shots for New York.

Detroit 106, Cleveland 97--Vinnie Johnson’s third-quarter shooting broke open a tight game as the Pistons defeated the Cavaliers at Auburn Hills, Mich.

Johnson, who had 11 points, scored seven as the Pistons opened the third quarter with a 21-10 run for a 75-60 lead. The Pistons outscored the Cavaliers, 24-16, in the quarter.

Brad Daugherty scored 35 points for Cleveland. Isiah Thomas had 24 points for Detroit.

Utah 102, Phoenix 101--Karl Malone’s two free throws with 41 seconds left gave the Jazz a split with the Suns in Tokyo.

The Suns and Jazz were tied 33 times, including 11 occasions in the fourth quarter before Malone’s free throws. The lead changed hands 22 times.

Eddie Johnson and Tom Chambers missed shots for the Suns in the final seconds.

Malone scored 29 points, and Kevin Johnson had 28 for the Suns.

Atlanta 121, Indiana 120--Dominique Wilkins’ two free throws with seven seconds left capped the Hawks’ rally from a 15-point deficit to a victory over the Pacers at Atlanta.

Wilkins, who scored 30 points, missed two free throws with 32 seconds left. But he stole the ball, drove the length of the court and was fouled by Chuck Person as he attempted a dunk.

Reggie Miller had 33 points and Person added 27 for Indiana.

Philadelphia 112, New Jersey 110--The 76ers benefited from a questionable call to defeat the Nets in overtime at Philadelphia.

The loss was the Nets’ 30th in a row on the road, two short of the NBA record.

The Nets had a 102-99 lead in the final seconds of regulation, but the 76ers tied the score with 1.3 seconds left when rookie Derrick Coleman was called for goaltending on a desperation three-pointer by Charles Barkley. Replays showed the shot was short and wide.

Barkley scored four of his 27 points to give Philadelphia a 110-106 lead in overtime before Jud Buechler’s layup got the Nets close, but Coleman’s three-point shot at the buzzer bounced off the rim.

Reggie Theus had 36 points for the Nets. Hersey Hawkins scored 30 for the 76ers.

Seattle 118, Houston 106--The SuperSonics scored nine consecutive points late in the game to beat the Rockets at Seattle.

Xavier McDaniel, who scored 24 points, made 11 of 16 shots as the SuperSonics won in K.C. Jones’ first game as their head coach.

Akeem Olajuwon had 26 points for Houston.

Milwaukee 111, Minnesota 93--Ricky Pierce and Alvin Robertson each scored 18 points and the Bucks held on to beat the Timberwolves at Milwaukee.

Pierce had eight points in the final quarter when the Bucks, who led by 20 at the half, finished off the Timberwolves with a 12-0 run.

Tony Campbell had 30 points for Minnesota.

Charlotte 104, Orlando 97--Armon Gilliam had 19 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots as the Hornets extended the Magic’s home losing streak to an NBA record-tying 15 games.

Orlando’s last home win came last Feb. 27 against Charlotte. The defeat tied Cleveland’s string of 15 home losses in the 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons.

Dallas 140, Denver 110--Roy Tarpley had 25 points and 13 rebounds as the Mavericks easily defeated the Nuggets at Dallas.

Derek Harper added 21 points for Dallas. Orlando Woolridge scored 21 for Denver.

Portland 95, Sacramento 93--Jerome Kersey’s four points in the last seven seconds gave the Trail Blazers an overtime victory over the Kings at Sacramento.