NBA ROUNDUP : Cavaliers Continue to Make Inroads With Victory at Boston; Bird Out

The Cleveland Cavaliers, one of the most-improved teams in the league, are learning to win on the road.

That was evident Friday night at Boston even though the Celtics were not as much a challenge as usual because they were without Larry Bird, who was sidelined by a recurring back problem.

The Cavaliers took advantage of Bird’s absence, pulling away in the last quarter to win, 111-100.

It was Cleveland’s eighth victory in a row gave the Cavaliers back-to-back road victories against two of the top teams in the Atlanta Division. They beat the Knicks at New York Thursday.

Although they trail the Chicago Bulls in the Central Division by 3 1/2 games, the Cavaliers have charged back from a 1-4 start to win 21 of their first 30 games, and they have the best home record in the league.

A year ago at this time, with several stars hurt, the Cavaliers were 11-19.

Once again it was reserve guard John Battle who led the Cavaliers. Against the Knicks, Battle was six for six and scored nine points in 91 seconds late in the game Thursday.

Friday, the score was tied, 69-69, in the third quarter before Battle scored 14 points in a 22-11 surge that carried the Cavaliers to victory.

Larry Nance was also a major factor in the second half, blocking seven shots and getting 14 of his 20 points after intermission.

The battle at center was more even, despite the ages. The Cavaliers’ Brad Daugherty, at age 26, had 20 points and 14 rebounds. The Celtics’ Robert Parish, 12 years older, had 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Bird, who sat out the Dec. 14 game that the Celtics lost at New York, will also miss tonight’s game at Minnesota.

Injuries had been the problem for the young Cavaliers, who had been rated as up and coming after a 57-25 record in the 1988-89 season.

The Cavaliers are sound this season. Of the top six players on the 1988-89 team only Ron Harper, now with the Clippers, is missing.

Milwaukee 113, Chicago 108--The Bucks have a simple formula for beating the Bulls. Let Michael Jordan score at will and stop his teammates.

The Bucks became the first team to beat the champions twice this season, ending a six-game winning streak at Milwaukee despite Jordan’s 44 points.

In the second game of the season, Jordan had 46 points, but the Bulls lost at Milwaukee.

Dale Ellis’ layup with nine seconds left clinched the victory. Jay Humphries had 23 points and helped hand the Bulls their fifth loss in 29 games.

Washington 112, New Jersey 108--After missing a game because of an auto accident, Pervis Ellison came back to score 31 points at East Rutherford, N.J., to lead the Bullets to their third victory in a row.

In the battle between two teams on the upswing, Sam Bowie had 30 points and 10 rebounds, but the Nets’ winning streak ended at four.

The Bullets have won six of their last seven.

Detroit 106, Dallas 96--Mark Aguirre scored 11 of the Pistons’ first 15 points in the fourth quarter to lead them to victory at Dallas.

The Mavericks led by seven with 2 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter, but Aguirre, a former Maverick, turned the game around.