NBA ROUNDUP : Hawks’ Victory Over Bulls Builds Lead to Three Games

The Atlanta Hawks defeated the Chicago Bulls for the first time in seven meetings and extended their Central Division lead over the defending NBA champions to three games with a 92-81 victory Wednesday night at Atlanta.

Dominique Wilkins scored 19 points and had 10 rebounds as the Hawks, who were swept in a three-game series by the Bulls in last year’s playoffs and routed by them, 106-80, earlier this season, extended their winning streak to six games.

The Bulls led only once, on Horace Grant’s game-opening field goal, and committed a season-high 27 turnovers.

Grant finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds for Chicago. Steve Kerr, Pete Myers and Scottie Pippen each scored 13 points.

Houston 94, Boston 84--Hakeem Olajuwon scored 37 points to help the Rockets end a 12-year winless streak at Boston Garden as the Celtics tied a 45-year-old team record with their sixth consecutive home loss.

Olajuwon, who matched his season high in scoring, also had 11 rebounds and six assists.

Cleveland 118, Orlando 109--Gerald Wilkins made 15 of 22 shots, including six of eight three-pointers, and scored a season-high 38 points to lead the Cavaliers at Orlando, Fla.

Brad Daugherty had 25 points and nine rebounds for Cleveland.

Minnesota 103, Dallas 85--The Mavericks, who beat Minnesota twice for their only victories in 32 games this season, tied an NBA record at Dallas with their 16th consecutive home loss.

The Mavericks matched the record for home futility set by the Orlando Magic in the 1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons. Orlando lost 14 in a row at home to close out the 1989-90 season before losing two more in 1990-91.

Indiana 107, Denver 96--Reggie Miller made all 15 of his free throws and scored 29 points to lead the Pacers at Indianapolis.

Golden State 100, Miami 92--Chris Webber, despite a sore back, scored 27 points to lead the Warriors at Oakland.