NBA ROUNDUP : Spurs’ Robinson Talks Softly, but His Play Hammers Pistons

David Robinson is inclined to let sleeping Pistons lie.

“I’m not saying anything bad about those guys, because I’ll have to see them down the road some time,” he said Monday after scoring 40 points, getting 12 rebounds and blocking five shots in San Antonio’s 114-93 victory over Detroit at Auburn Hills, Mich., the Spurs’ eighth in a row.

Well, you can’t get away from reality.

“I think we are just a little bigger and stronger than they are,” Robinson said.

No kidding. At least one Spur is bigger and stronger, and Detroit Coach Don Chaney minces no words as to one of the reasons his team has lost eight of its last 10 games.

“I think we could have used Robinson’s 40 points, his defensive intensity and his shot-blocking ability,” Chaney said.

Detroit could most nights, but then again, so could everybody else and it wasn’t that unusual. Robinson scored 37 points against the Pistons on Feb. 24.

Indiana 98, New Jersey 87--Reggie Miller scored 25 points and Rik Smits added 24 points and 12 rebounds as the Pacers won their sixth home game in a row.

Indiana, which led by as many as 21 points in the first half, won its fourth in a row overall, despite making only five field goals in the third quarter.

Utah 128, Washington 102--Karl Malone scored 23 points, 12 in the third quarter when the Jazz outscored Washington, 34-20, as Utah won at home.