NBA ROUNDUP : Gamble Takes Charge with 34 Points to Lead Celtics

Boston Coach Chris Ford had a feeling someone would step in and take charge because the team was playing without Larry Bird and Kevin McHale.

That someone turned out to be Kevin Gamble, who scored a personal-best 34 points as the Celtics rallied to a 110-108 victory over the Sacramento Kings Monday night at Boston.

Bird was put on injured reserve before the game because of a bad back; McHale didn’t play because of a bruised right calf.

“I thought this was a great game,” Ford said. “It was typical Celtics basketball, guys diving on the floor, a great effort, a total team win.”

Mitch Richmond led Sacramento with 23 points; Wayman Tisdale had 18. Robert Parish scored 18 of his 22 in the second half for Boston.

San Antonio 100, Detroit 90--Willie Anderson had 18 points and 11 rebounds at San Antonio, and the Spurs set a franchise record with only five turnovers in the victory over the Pistons.

David Robinson scored 20 points and Rod Strickland a season-high 19 for the Spurs. Anderson was averaging 13.3 points and 5.0 rebounds before the game.

The Pistons’ Dennis Rodman had 24 rebounds, one under his career high, and moved ahead of Kevin Willis of Atlanta for the NBA rebounding lead. Rodman is averaging 16.9 and Willis 16.8.

Utah 124, Indiana 108--Karl Malone had 34 points and 14 rebounds at Salt Lake City as the Jazz won their fifth game in a row.

Blue Edwards scored 23 points, John Stockton 22 and Jeff Malone 20 as the Jazz ended a four-game losing streak to the Pacers dating to the 1990-91 season. Reggie Miller led the Pacers with 20 points, and Vern Fleming had 16.

Trailing by 10 points going into the fourth quarter, Indiana closed to 96-89 on two free throws by Fleming.

But an 11-4 run, capped by Karl Malone’s drive to the basket with 4:48 to play, made it 116-101, and the Jazz coasted to victory.

Atlanta 109, Houston 97--Dominique Wilkins scored 27 points and Kevin Willis had 20 points and 15 rebounds at Atlanta as the Hawks won their fourth game in a row.

Duane Ferrell had 15 points, including 11 in a 24-13 second-half run that gave the Hawks a 15-point lead with 4:50 to play.