NBA ROUNDUP : Cavaliers’ Victory Is Benchmark for Wilkens

It should have been a pleasant night at Richfield, Ohio, for Cleveland Cavalier Coach Lenny Wilkens.

He was cruising toward his 856th career victory Tuesday to tie for third on the all-time list. All his Cavaliers had to do was hold on to a 29-point lead over the Philadelphia 76ers.

And hold on they did, by their fingertips.

With a large assist from their bench, the 76ers nearly came all the way back, cutting the lead to six before the Cavaliers prevailed, 110-98.

The victory tied Wilkens with Dick Motta. Only Jack Ramsay with 864 wins and Red Auerbach with 938 remain higher on the career list.

Cleveland has won 16 of its last 20 games overall and 12 in a row at home. Philadelphia lost its third in a row and is 1-3 since Fred Carter replaced Doug Moe as coach.

Mark Price, who scored 20 points for the Cavaliers, made all five of his free throws, extending his team record to 57 in a row.

Houston 94, Orlando 93--Rookie Robert Horry’s three-point jump shot with 42 seconds gave the Rockets the lead and they hung on for a franchise-record 14th straight victory at Houston.

The winning streak equals the longest in the NBA this season. Phoenix also won 14 in a row.

Atlanta 122, Charlotte 107--There’s a simple formula for success for the Hawks these days--make sure Dominque Wilkins scores 30 or more points.

Wilkins scored 38 points at Charlotte as Atlanta won their sixth consecutive game.

It was also Wilkins’ sixth consecutive game of 30-plus points.

Kevin Willis had 20 points and 16 of the 50 Atlanta rebounds. Charlotte had 35 rebounds for the game.

Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning had 23 points apiece for the Hornets, who lost for the third time in four games.

New York 102, Milwaukee 99--Coach Pat Riley’s suspicions that his Knicks were complacent about playing the Bucks were confirmed in the final 30 seconds at New York.

Patrick Ewing scored 35 points on 14-for-20 shooting as New York won its 12th consecutive home game and seventh in a row overall.

But Ewing missed three free throws and Charles Smith two in the final 30 seconds, giving the Bucks a chance to tie the score after they appeared to be hopelessly behind.

Milwaukee cut an 11-point deficit to one in the fourth quarter.

“I sensed sort of a complacent nature. . . . We weren’t focused and concentrating,” Riley said.

The crowd of 19,763 was the 31st sellout in 33 home games.

Seattle 98, Miami 85--Vincent Askew and Gary Payton led a 14-2 fourth-quarter run at Seattle to enable the SuperSonics to win for the 13th time in 16 games.

Boston 114, Golden State 88--Alaa Abdelnaby had 25 points and Kevin Gamble 23 at Oakland.

Abdelnaby, acquired from Milwaukee on Dec. 4, sank 12 of 13 shots and pulled down 10 rebounds.

Latrell Sprewell had 22 points and Chris Gatling 18 for the Warriors, who haven’t won since All-Star point guard Tim Hardaway was sidelined becaue of a bruised right knee on March 3.

Minnesota 100, Denver 97--The Timberwolves overcame injuries and the Nuggets at Minneapolis to end a five-game losing streak.

Minnesota center Luc Longley left the game with a foot injury in the first quarter. Chuck Person (inner-ear infection) and Thurl Bailey (dislocated toe) are already sidelined.

Detroit 113, Sacramento 110--Joe Dumars scored 31 points, including 10 of the Pistons’ final 13 points as Detroit recorded their 11th straight victory over the Kings.