NBA Roundup : Hawks Beat Pistons in Silverdome

Just when it appeared that the Detroit Pistons had the Central Division well in hand, the Atlanta Hawks decided to get back into the race.

A turnaround 4-footer by Antoine Carr that bounced around, then dropped in with three seconds left Wednesday night gave the Hawks a 103-102 victory over the Pistons before a shocked crowd of 47,692 at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich.

The huge gathering watched the Pistons, behind Isiah Thomas’ 35 points, dominate most of the game and lead, 81-67, with one minute left in the third quarter.

Instead of stretching their lead to five games, the Pistons weakened in the stretch and lost on the only basket of the second half by Carr, once the Pistons’ No. 1 draft choice. Their lead is only three games with 13 games left, including one at Atlanta.

On a night when Dominique Wilkins was only 4 for 15 and had only 10 points, it was Cliff Levingston and Randy Wittman who led the Hawks’ late rally.

After Thomas, who scored 22 points after intermission, sank a jumper over Wittman with 13 seconds left to give Detroit a 102-101 lead, the Hawks called time out. Despite his horrible night, they set up a play for Wilkins to take the last shot.

“I looked for ‘Nique, but (Dennis) Rodman had him covered like a glove,” Carr said. “I knew the time was ticking down and we had to do something. I went to my post-up move. Luckily, the ball had a little bounce on it.”

The surprise ending halted a club-record streak of 10 home wins in a row for the Pistons and was the ninth win in the last 13 games for Atlanta.

Cleveland 107, Washington 96--The four teams battling for the last two playoff positions in the East went into action with a combined 29-112 record on the road.

Under the circumstances, it would seem that any of the four--Cleveland, Washington, New York or Philadelphia--able to beat one of its rivals on the road would be in a strong position.

The Cavaliers may not be in the driver’s seat, but they took a giant step in the right direction when they beat the Bullets at Landover, Md.

The second win in a row for the Cavaliers over one of the teams they are battling for playoff spots, was only their ninth in 37 road games, but it gave them a little breathing room.

Cleveland is 33-38, Philadelphia, which won at home against Milwaukee, is 32-38, Washington, after absorbing a serious blow, is 30-39, while idle New York is 30-40. Both Cleveland and Philadelphia have only four road games left. New York, which is 4-30 away from home, and Washington (9-25) both have seven more road games.

Before winding up with the big road victory, the Cavaliers had a scare. They built a 21-point lead at halftime, went on a 3-for-19 shooting slump and came within two points of losing the lead in the fourth quarter.

The 64-43 lead shrunk to 86-84 with seven minutes to play, but Larry Nance, who led the Cavaliers with 22 points, sank a short jumper and Ron Harper scored the next three points to get the Cavaliers rolling again.

Philadelphia 134, Milwaukee 109--Charles Barkley and Cliff Robinson are leading the 76ers’ drive to a postseason berth. Barkley had 33 points and 14 rebounds at Philadelphia and Robinson had 26 points and 7 assists.

It was the third win in a row and the sixth in the last eight games for the 76ers. Barkley had 18 points in the first quarter as the 76ers took the lead for good.

Boston 117, Houston 110--Although the Rockets were without injured Akeem Olajuwon, and Larry Bird had his usual outstanding game, the Celtics were extended at Boston.

Bird had 35 points and 9 assists, but it was the play off the bench by Fred Roberts that clinched the win. In 21 minutes Roberts scored 16 points.

Olajuwon has a bruised knee. Joe Barry Carroll replaced him at center and had 17 points, but only five rebounds in 37 minutes.

Phoenix 123, Golden State 105--The Suns may yet earn the doubtful honor of playing the Lakers in the opening round of the playoffs.

The Suns moved within 2 1/2 games of San Antonio in the bid for the eighth and last playoff spot in the West.

Armon Gilliam scored 10 points in the first quarter at Phoenix to lead the Suns to a 31-25 lead, which they continued to build.