NBA ROUNDUP : Celtics in Wrong Palace at Wrong Time

The last place Boston wanted to play without Larry Bird was at the Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich. The Celtics’ task was made more difficult when Robert Parish stayed home because of a sore ankle.

That made it a little easier for Detroit, playing without Isiah Thomas, to beat Boston, 101-90, Monday night as the Celtics lost their fourth game in a row and their seventh at the Palace, where they have never won.

With Thomas missing his second game because of a groin pull and a sprained shoulder, Vinnie Johnson picked up the slack and scored 18 points. Joe Dumars led the Pistons with 26 points.

Kevin McHale led the Celtics with 24 points, and Brian Shaw and Joe Kleine each had 18 for Boston.

New York 117, Philadelphia 116--Patrick Ewing scored six of his 37 points in overtime and the Knicks took advantage of six technical fouls in the victory over the 76ers at New York.

Ewing, guarded by five different players during the game, tied the score at 111-111 with 2:56 left in the extra period, then gave the Knicks the lead for good with a basket 33 seconds later.

Ewing and Charles Oakley each grabbed 16 rebounds, and Oakley scored 20 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter.

Chicago 117, Miami 106--Michael Jordan scored 37 points, including 13 in the third quarter as the Bulls broke open a close game at Miami.

Chicago was clinging to a 69-66 lead when Jordan hit a free throw to open an 11-3 run that made it 80-69 with 4:14 left in the third quarter.

Miami was unable to cut the margin below double figures until Kevin Edwards, who had 20 points in the game, hit four free throws in a 13-second span to make it 113-104 with 1:36 left in the game.

Denver 115, Minnesota 110--Michael Adams scored 24 points, including six free throws in the final 19 seconds, as the Nuggets rallied from an 18-point deficit and ended the Timberwolves’ three-game road winning streak.

Reggie Williams scored 21 points for Denver, whose bench players outscored Minnesota’s reserves, 48-30. Rookie Terry Mills and Todd Lichti led the Nuggets’ reserves with 14 and 10 points, respectively.

Rookie Gerald Glass scored 17 points for the Timberwolves.

Washington 121, Orlando 119--The Magic lost its fourth game in a row when Darrell Walker scored the winning basket for the Bullets with a jumper from the corner with 1.4 seconds to play at Landover, Md.

Walker’s shot from the left corner completed his third triple-double of the season and enabled the Bullets to stretch their home winning streak to five games. Walker had 10 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists.

Sacramento 97, Houston 94--Antoine Carr scored six of his 19 points in the final three minutes at Sacramento as the Kings ended a five-game losing streak against the Rockets.

Rookie Travis Mays scored 23 points for the Kings, Kenny Smith and Otis Thorpe had 26 points each and Buck Johnson added 18 for the Rockets.