NBA ROUNDUP : Salley Returns to the Palace, and Miami Wins

Miami had never won at the Palace until former Piston John Salley showed the Heat how to win--the way Detroit used to do it.

With defense.

Salley scored 23 points and came up with the key defensive play, helping Miami beat his former team, 106-105, Tuesday night, the Heat’s first victory at the Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich.

“I told them at halftime: ‘If we’re going to win this thing, we’ve got to do it on defense,’ ” Miami Coach Kevin Loughery said. “They really gave good effort, and I think they did the job in the second half.”

Grant Long, who scored Miami’s final five points to finish with 24, gave the Heat the lead when he made a hook shot with 4.7 seconds remaining. After a timeout, Orlando Woolridge tried to inbound the ball to Isiah Thomas, but Salley intercepted and held the ball until the buzzer ended the game.

“I just switched on the play, because I didn’t want Isiah to drive to the basket, and the ball came to me,” said Salley, who played 44 minutes at center in place of Rony Seikely, who was out with flu. “I’m happy for us. We’ve been losing a lot like that one, and it was important that we finally got one. As long as we win, I don’t care about scoring.”

Terry Mills scored a career-high 28 points, Woolridge 26 and Joe Dumars 20 for the Pistons, who have lost three consecutive games and 10 of their last 12.

Cleveland 107, Charlotte 103--Brad Daugherty had 28 points and 17 rebounds as the Cavaliers won their fifth consecutive game and ended Hornets’ four-game winning streak at Charlotte, N.C.

With the Hornets trailing, 105-102, Larry Johnson was fouled with 1.1 seconds left. After making the first, he intentionally missed the second, but his air ball gave the Cavaliers possession.

Mark Price finished with 20 points and Larry Nance 18 for the Cavaliers. The Hornets were led by Johnson with 29 points and 14 rebounds and Dell Curry, who set a team record with five three-pointers, with 24 points.

Boston 104, Milwaukee 92--Reggie Lewis scored 20 points and the Celtics outrebounded the Bucks, 48-26, at Hartford, Conn.

Lewis, who scored 14 in the first quarter, made four free throws in the final 1:45, and Xavier McDaniel, who had 18 points, added six free throws during that span as the Celtics handed the Bucks their fourth consecutive loss.

Todd Day scored a career-high 29 points to lead the Bucks, and Frank Brickowski added 22.

Denver 96, Seattle 92--Chris Jackson’s three-point basket with 1:28 left helped the Nuggets complete a 13-point second-half comeback to defeat the SuperSonics at Seattle.

Denver, which won for the first time in Seattle in five years, needed Jackson’s three-pointer to break a 90-90 tie. Then the Nuggets made it 96-90 on free throws by Marcus Liberty and Tom Hammonds.

Liberty and LaPhonso Ellis each scored 16 points for Denver, and Dikembe Mutombo had 15 points, 17 rebounds and three blocked shots. Eddie Johnson paced the SuperSonics with 22 points.

The Nuggets were coached by assistant Gene Littles because Coach Dan Issel came down with stomach flu.

Utah 119, Sacramento 114--Karl Malone had 36 points and 11 rebounds and Jeff Malone scored 23 points on 11-for-14 shooting as the Jazz ended a five-game road losing streak at Sacramento.

Wayman Tisdale led Sacramento with 31 points, and Mitch Richmond and Lionel Simmons each had 22.

Atlanta 125, Golden State 114--Dominique Wilkins scored a game-high 38 points, including 24 in the first half, to help the Hawks hand the Warriors their seventh consecutive loss and 14th in their last 15 at Oakland.

Kevin Willis added 24 points and 15 rebounds for Atlanta.

The Warriors, who used their 18th different lineup of the season, were led by Sarunas Marciulionis with 27 points and Tim Hardaway, who added 16 points and 13 assists.

Atlanta, which trailed in each of the first three quarters, outscored Golden State, 35-21, in the fourth quarter.