NBA ROUNDUP : Bird Makes Pacers Pay for Leaving Him Open

At first, Larry Bird was surprised by being left so wide open. Then he was insulted. Then he made Indiana pay for it.

The Boston forward tied a team record with seven three-point baskets and scored 29 points to lead the Celtics to a 126-101 victory over the Pacers at Hartford, Conn., Monday night in a possible playoff preview.

Bird said he didn’t set out to take a lot of three-point shots.

“The first few went down, from then on I was just standing out there isolated and the guys were penetrating and kicking it back,” he said. “They don’t run a lot of plays for me, so I have to pick up my shots during the course of the game.”

The Celtics shot 64% from the field in the first half en route to a 69-52 halftime lead. They extended it to 87-61 late in the third quarter.

Bird, who also had 10 assists, was seven for 10 from three-point range, tying the team record he set April 3, 1988 against Dallas.

Phoenix 126, Charlotte 93--Dan Majerle scored 21 points and reserve Cedric Ceballos 20 as the Suns handed the Hornets their worst loss of the season.

Charlotte’s previous worst defeat came in a 106-77 setback at Minnesota on Nov. 9.

The Suns improved their road record to 16-14 in the opener of a five-game Eastern swing.

Kendall Gill paced the Hornets with 14 points, and Kevin Johnson had 19 points and 10 assists for Phoenix.

Phoenix outscored the Hornets 35-23 in the first quarter, 33-24 in the second and 31-18 in the third for a 99-65 margin at the end of third quarter. The Suns shot 54.7% to that point; Charlotte connected on 34.4% after three quarters.

The Suns scored on their first nine possessions and never trailed. Phoenix made nine of 12 shots during that span.

Utah 106, Orlando 88--Karl Malone scored 10 of the Jazz’s first 12 points in the second quarter and 30 overall as Utah ran its winning streak to four with the victory at Orlando, Fla.

It was also the ninth victory in the past 11 games and third in a row on the road for the Jazz.

The Magic shot only 36% in the opening half. Dennis Scott then scored 20 of his 28 points on 10-for-15 shooting in the third quarter, but Orlando still was outscored by five points to trail, 81-65.

Malone, who has never scored fewer than 30 points against the Magic, also grabbed 11 rebounds for the Jazz, which never led by less than six in the second half.

Dallas 102, New Jersey 100--Rolando Blackman converted two free throws after time expired as the Mavericks handed the Nets their ninth consecutive road loss.

Blackman scored Dallas’ last 12 points in the final 3:35 as the Mavericks wiped out a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit.

Derek Harper added 21 points for Dallas and James Donaldson grabbed 15 rebounds. Derrick Coleman had 24 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Nets.

Seattle 105, Golden State 99--Sedale Threatt scored 24 points and Eddie Johnson 22 at Oakland as the SuperSonics won their fifth game in a row.

Ricky Pierce’s two free throws with 21.7 seconds gave Seattle a 103-99 lead, and Gary Payton’s dunk with seven seconds left sealed the victory.

Mitch Richmond scored 30 points and Chris Mullin 24 for Golden State, which made only 41% of its shots in losing for the fifth time in six games.