Sloppy 76ers Hand Bullets Win

When they weren’t missing shots, the Philadelphia 76ers threw the ball away. They couldn’t hit their layups and were simply awful from long range.

Give some credit to the Washington Bullets’ defense, but the 76ers deserved plenty of the blame for their humbling 88-76 loss Friday night at Landover, Md.

“When the ball’s not going in the basket, everything is magnified and makes for an uphill climb all night,” Philadelphia Coach Johnny Davis said after watching his team miss 51 field goals and shoot 38%. “At this point, we’re just not knocking those open shots down.”

The 76ers were two for 17 from three-point range and had seven players misfire on more than half their shots. Add 26 turnovers to that mix, and there really isn’t any question as to why Philadelphia never held the lead.

“That’s a concern. We’re not taking care of the basketball as well as we should,” Davis said. “We’re much too careless with it.”

Juwan Howard had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Bullets, who won for only the third time in eight games. Washington closed the first half with a 10-0 run to go up, 48-35, then began the third quarter with a 10-4 run to increase the margin to 19.

It was 68-49 after three periods, and the only suspense in the final 12 minutes was whether Washington would snap the team mark for fewest points given up--74 against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Dec. 21, 1982.

The 76ers spoiled the Bullets’ quest by scoring 27 points in the fourth quarter, eclipsing the 74-point mark with 25 seconds left.

Washington’s Harvey Grant and Philadelphia’s Jerry Stackhouse nearly got into a fight in the final three minutes after Grant was called for a foul, but the players were separated after locking their arms around each other’s head.

Chris Webber and Rod Strickland had 13 points each for the Bullets, who turned in their finest defensive effort of the season.

“We played some good defense, but on top of that they missed some shots you’d like to think they’re supposed to make,” Washington Coach Jim Lynam said.

“We needed to turn the defensive part of our game around, and I felt as if that was done tonight,” Webber said. “We need some wins, and it starts with defense.”

Seattle 118, Boston 91--The SuperSonics stretched their winning streak to 10 games as Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton scored 22 points each in a victory over the injury-plagued Celtics at Boston.

The Celtics, who trailed 62-45 at halftime, pulled to 80-71 before the SuperSonics finished the third quarter with a 7-0 run to go ahead 87-71. Seattle led by at least 16 points the rest of the way.

Boston has been routed in its last three games, losing by 14 and 25 points before the setback to Seattle. Rick Fox scored 21 points and Todd Day 17 for the Celtics (2-8), who scored fewer than 100 points for the seventh time.

The Celtics were without four players who were projected as starters when the season began, and had only four players on the bench. And only one of those, Marty Conlon, played in the NBA before this season.

Miami 111, Sacramento 108--Tim Hardaway made four consecutive free throws in the final 18 seconds, giving the Heat the double-overtime victory over the Kings at Sacramento.

Isaac Austin put the Heat ahead for good, making a free throw with 24 seconds remaining for a 107-106 lead. Austin missed his second free throw, but Miami got the rebound and Hardaway was fouled.

Hardaway made two free throws to put the Heat up, 109-106, with 18 seconds left in the second overtime.

Hardaway finished with 22 points, while Mitch Richmond led Sacramento with 32.

Richmond made a three-pointer with one second left in the first overtime to tie it 100-100.

The Kings, who trailed since early in the second quarter, tied the game, 90-90, on Olden Polynice’s dunk with 14 seconds left in regulation.