NBA ROUNDUP : Riley Decries Knicks for Overtime Escape

The New York Knicks are leading the Atlantic Division and only the Chicago Bulls have a better record. They are six games better off than they were at this point last season.

Yet their new coach, Pat Riley, is not happy with the way they are playing.

Riley chastised his players Saturday after they blew a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter and had to go to overtime to beat the Indiana Pacers, 115-106.

While improving to 18-8, the Knicks were fortunate to get to overtime. Only a desperation three-pointer by John Starks with less than two seconds left in regulation prevented an upset.

The Knicks went into the final 12 minutes with an 86-67 lead. Detlef Schrempf, who scored 17 of his 28 points during the fourth quarter, led a rally that gave the Pacers a 101-98 lead with five seconds left. But the Pacers failed to score in the first three minutes of overtime.

“We were very fortunate to win,” Riley said. “I’m not pleased with the way we’re playing. We really didn’t sustain the game and had breakdowns that we need to work on. But I’ll take it. Thank you, John Starks.”

Knick center Patrick Ewing had only six points in 29 minutes. Rookie guard Greg Anthony, making his first start, had 20 points and 13 assists for the Knicks.

Anthony was in the lineup because Mark Jackson was with his wife, who gave birth to a boy early in the day.

Utah 128, Miami 103--Less than 24 hours after hinting he might retire at the end of the season, Karl Malone scored 38 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Jazz to its 10th victory in 11 games, at Salt Lake City.

Still upset about being punished after elbowing Detroit’s Isiah Thomas in the head two weeks ago, Malone talked about quitting. But Saturday night, playing was fun again.

“I just decided to come out and play and have a good time,” he said. “The foul against Isiah was accidental, not intentional.”

Chicago 127, Sacramento 118--For more than three quarters, the Kings had fun at Chicago. They even led by 105-104 with nine minutes to play.

But Michael Jordan scored 33 points, leading the Bulls to their fifth victory in a row.

Center Bill Cartwright, who sat out 17 games because of a broken hand, returned to the Bulls’ lineup. He missed all four shots he took in 17 minutes.

Atlanta 125, Minnesota 122--Dominique Wilkins’ three-point play to open overtime helped the Hawks end a four-game losing streak and hand the Timberwolves their 22nd loss in 26 games.

Wilkins was four for 18 in regulation and finished with 19 points. Stacy Augmon added 23 points and Kevin Willis had 19 points and 21 rebounds for the Hawks.

“We’ll take any kind of a victory,” said Augmon, “because we have been in a slump. Maybe this will get us going.”

Denver 97, Boston 90--Rookies Mark Macon and Dikembe Mutombo were not in awe of Larry Bird and the Celtics in their first meeting at Denver.

Macon had 21 points and 10 rebounds and Mutombo had 16 points and 17 rebounds as the Nuggets took an 87-71 lead with six minutes remaining.

Bird went four of 18 but had 19 rebounds and six assists.

“This was a great win for us in front of a full house,” Denver Coach Paul Westhead said.

“This is a signal that we will become a solid basketball team.”

Boston’s Chris Ford disagreed. “It was an absolute disgrace to basketball,” he said.

Phoenix 121, Dallas 103--Kevin Johnson scored 11 of his 26 points during the third quarter at Phoenix to lead the Suns to their fourth victory in a row.

The Mavericks stayed close for a half and went into the third quarter trailing by a point. But Johnson and Jeff Hornacek helped the Suns take a 32-21 lead in the third quarter.

The victory was the 15th in 18 games for the Suns, who trail Golden State by one game in the Pacific Division.

Washington 129, Charlotte 124--Harvey Grant scored 21 of his 27 points during the second half at Baltimore and the Bullets, once known as the Baltimore Bullets, held off the Hornets.

Larry Johnson had 29 points and 13 rebounds for Charlotte. Johnson joined Augmon and Anthony as rookies from Nevada Las Vegas who played well Saturday night.