NBA ROUNDUP : Knicks Top Shorthanded Celtics

The Boston Celtics walked off the court in New York knowing they put forth a great effort under adverse circumstances. The New York Knicks walked off in first place in the Atlantic Division.

Mark Jackson scored a season-high 26 points and had a key steal with 3.3 seconds left Saturday night, lifting the Knicks to a 100-96 victory over a makeshift lineup of Celtics.

Boston was playing without its longtime front line of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish--out because of injuries--but the Celtics kept the game close behind Reggie Lewis’ 33 points and Kevin Gamble’s 23.

Xavier McDaniel scored 29 points--giving him 10,012 for his career--and Patrick Ewing 18 for the Knicks, who extended their division lead over Boston to 1 1/2 games.

The Celtics shot 54% the first three quarters, then scored 12 points on 24% shooting in the fourth quarter.

Cleveland 108, Philadelphia 102--Brad Daugherty scored 23 points, pulled down 16 rebounds and had eight assists at Richfield, Ohio, in leading the Cavaliers to a franchise-record 11th victory in a row.

The winning streak equals the team mark set during the 1988-89 season, the year Cleveland won a franchise-record 57 games. The Cavaliers, who are opening a six-game home stand, improved the NBA’s best home record to 15-1.

Indiana 138, Atlanta 115--Reggie Miller scored 30 points and the Pacers had seven players in double figures at Indianapolis as the Hawks had their six-game winning streak ended.

Rik Smits scored 20 points for Indiana. Detlef Schrempf had 11 points and 15 rebounds.

Dominique Wilkins led the Hawks with 24. Stacey Augmon added 19, and Alexander Volkov scored 13.

Detroit 90, New Jersey 88--Isiah Thomas hit two free throws with 2.1 seconds left at Auburn Hills, Mich., and the Pistons (20-16) moved four games above .500 for the first time this season. Thomas, who led the Pistons with 23 points, stole the ball from Mookie Blaylock and drove the length of the floor before being fouled by Blaylock and hitting both foul shots for the victory.

Dennis Rodman, the NBA’s leading rebounder, grabbed 24 for the Pistons.

Portland 115, Charlotte 93--Reserve guard Danny Ainge scored 23 points at Charlotte and the Trail Blazers continued their mastery of the Hornets.

Portland led, 63-44, at halftime and cruised through the second half, not allowing the Hornets to get closer than 14 points as the Trail Blazers improved to 9-0 lifetime against Charlotte.

Hornet assistant coach Bill Hanzlik was ejected after two technicals that helped the Trail Blazers to five points on one possession--all scored by Ainge--to go ahead, 43-26, with 8:26 to play in the quarter. Later in the quarter, Charlotte Coach Allan Bristow was called for a technical, giving the Hornets four in the half.

Minnesota 101, Utah 96--Tony Campbell had 21 points, including a key jump shot down the stretch at Minneapolis, as the Timberwolves beat the Jazz for only the second time in 12 meetings.

The victory was the second in a row for Minnesota, which at 7-26 shares the NBA’s worst record. The Timberwolves beat the Celtics Friday night in Boston.

Jeff Malone led Utah, losers of three in a row, with 32 points. Karl Malone, averaging 27.1 points, was held to 14.

Chicago 108, Miami 99--Michael Jordan scored 30 points and Horace Grant had 16 along with 18 rebounds at Chicago as the Bulls won their fifth game in a row. It was also their 10th victory in the last 11 games while the Heat lost their fourth in a row and 15th in 19 road games this season.

Chicago led by as many as 16 in the final quarter and Miami got no closer than eight points.

Phoenix 130, Golden State 118--Jeff Hornacek scored 14 points in the third quarter as the Suns won for the 12th time in a row at home.

Chris Mullin, Tim Hardaway and Sarunas Marciulionis--the league’s top-scoring trio on one team with a 68.6 per-game average, were held pretty much in check by the Suns. Marciulionis scored 25 points, Hardaway 20 and Mullin 18.

Houston 119, Seattle 115--Hakeem Olajuwon scored 23 points to lead the Rockets at Houston.

Seattle trailed by 13 early in the fourth quarter but pulled within 110-107 with 2:18 left. Houston then hit seven free throws, including three by Otis Thorpe, in the final two minutes to secure the victory.

Vernon Maxwell added 21 points for the Rockets. Thorpe had 20 and Kenny Smith had 18.

Sacramento 106, Milwaukee 105--The Kings picked up their third road victory of the season when Lionel Simmons made a free throw with 4.8 seconds left in overtime at Milwaukee.

Alvin Robertson’s last-second 20-footer, which would have given the Bucks the victory, bounced off the backboard.

San Antonio 96, Denver 85--Rod Strickland scored 22 points and David Robinson had 20 as the Spurs withstood a rally in Denver.

The Spurs led by as many as 16 points several times, the last at 61-45 with 7:54 left in the third quarter. They were ahead, 67-53, when the Nuggets went on a 12-0 run, which cut the Spurs lead to 67-65 with 10:40 left.