NBA ROUNDUP : Bird Fails in the Clutch Again

Larry Bird’s aching back is proving harmful to the Boston Celtics.

The runaway leaders of the Atlantic Division have lost only two of their past 10 games. In both, the Celtics went to their leader in the clutch and both times he couldn’t come through.

The improved Indiana Pacers wiped out a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter Sunday at Indianapolis and when Bird missed five consecutive shots down the stretch, the Pacers pulled out a 115-109 victory.

Tuesday at Phoenix, the Celtics, after winning seven in a row, lost by four points, mainly because Bird missed 10 shots in the last quarter.

Reggie Miller, scoring 18 of his 26 points in the last quarter, led the rally that produced the Pacers’ sixth consecutive victory.

The Pacers dominated the first and fourth quarters, the Celtics the middle two.

The Celtics, who overcame an early 14-point deficit to take an 86-71 lead after three quarters, still were on top, 100-93, halfway through the last quarter.

Bird, who had been lying on the floor by the Celtics’ bench to rest his painful back, re-entered the game.

Unable to use his normal shooting form, Bird missed badly on five shots. Meanwhile, Miller made a three-pointer to trigger a 15-2 spurt that consumed more than four minutes and gave the Pacers a commanding 108-102 lead.

“This is the biggest win we’ve had this year,” Miller said.

Bird, who missed almost the entire 1988-89 season after surgery on both feet, has had a vertebrae injury since training camp. He missed 14 games shortly before the All-Star game. The Celtics slumped while he was out.

They went on a streak when he returned and he said the back felt better than it had all season.

In the two previous games, Bird was 12 for 41 from the field. In this one, he was six for 18.

The loss took away from a tremendous performance by Brian Shaw. The former UC Santa Barbara star had 21 points, eight rebounds, 12 assists and four steals.

San Antonio 95, Portland 88--The Spurs seemed to be a team on the skids. They had been hammered by Utah and stunned by the Clippers in their two previous games.

On the other hand, the Trail Blazers went in with the best record in the NBA (44-10), were 28-2 at home, and had just polished off Phoenix in an impressive performance. Moreover, they had beaten the Spurs 14 times in a row in Portland.

So, the charged-up Spurs, with Willie Anderson scoring 25 points and David Robinson getting 20 points and 12 rebounds, led almost all the way to end a four-game losing streak.

The Spurs moved .007 ahead of Utah in the Midwest Division as Portland’s lead over the Lakers in the Pacific Division was cut to 3 1/2 games.

Houston 100, Minnesota 91--Larry Smith had 23 rebounds at Minneapolis, his fourth time getting 20 or more in the past five games.

Smith’s effort helped the Rockets win for the 11th time in 14 games. Akeem Olajuwon rejoins them Friday against the Clippers.

The Rockets had a club-record nine three-point baskets. Sleepy Floyd made four of five.

Seattle 103, Utah 91--Benoit Benjamin played a prominent role and Sedale Threatt scored 30 points at Seattle as the SuperSonics knocked the Jazz out of first place in the Midwest Division.

Benjamin had four points and an assist in an 11-3 spurt to open the fourth quarter that put the Sonics in front by 11.

Benjamin, obtained from the Clippers in the Olden Polynice trade, finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Orlando 120, Sacramento 90--The road woes continued for the Kings at Orlando.

Jerry Reynolds had 20 points to lead the Magic to their seventh victory in the past 11 games and extended the Kings’ road losing streak to 23 games.

New York 108, Miami 92--Gerald Wilkins scored 12 of his 21 points in the third quarter at Miami to help the Knicks break it open.

The Knicks led, 63-58, when Wilkins had six points and an assist in a 10-2 burst that put the Knicks in control.