NBA Roundup : Lowly Pacers Stun Pistons, 107-98

The Indiana Pacers are a veteran club compared to the expansion teams from Miami and Charlotte, N.C.

But you wouldn’t know it by the Pacers’ record (2-11) and place (last) in the National Basketball Assn.’s Central Division. Charlotte is 3-10; Miami 0-11.

By contrast, division-leading Detroit (10-3) has been outstanding, including a victory over the Lakers Saturday night.

Still, it was Indiana that dominated Tuesday night at Indianapolis as the Pacers surprised the Pistons, 107-98, in Detroit’s first game since beating the defending NBA champion Lakers, 102-99.

John Long scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half and Indiana made 27 of 28 free throws, including 8 for 9 in the closing minutes.

“I felt pretty good tonight,” Long said. “This is one of the best teams in the game today. When we came in at halftime (behind, 51-50), I told the fellows they were ripe to beat if we kept our defense together.”

After the Pistons took a 75-64 lead late in the third quarter, Long scored 11 consecutive points in an 11-1 Pacer run that gave Indiana a 5-point lead at the end of the quarter.

“We had a lot of guys struggle offensively,” said Chuck Daly, Piston coach. “I don’t know why but they did.”

Reggie Miller, former UCLA star, scored 17 points and Wayman Tisdale had 14 for Indiana.

Said Pacer Coach George Irvine: “We held a team that was shooting over 50% to around 41%. We beat one of the best teams, and we have them again (tonight). We go up there now. We know their stuff and they know ours. I’d rather be going up there with a win than going up there after a loss.”

Charlotte 99, Miami 84--At Charlotte, rookie Rex Chapman had his biggest game yet as a pro with 22 points in the first meeting of the expansion teams.

Chapman, a former star at Kentucky, scored 5 points during a 9-0 run that lifted the Hornets into an 86-76 lead with 4:20 remaining.

Veteran Robert Reid scored 17 points, Kurt Rambis had 13 points in 3 quarters and Holton finished with 10 points for the Hornets.

Dwayne Washington scored a career-high 18 points for Miami. Grant Long had 14 points, Pat Cummings scored 13 and Rory Sparrow had 10.

Boston 100, New Jersey 93--Robert Parish scored 21 points and had 14 rebounds, and the Celtics shot almost 68% in the first half to even their record at 7-7 in a game at East Rutherford, N.J.

New Jersey (7-8) rallied in the fourth quarter, but the injury-plagued Celtics held on to move into third place in the Atlantic Division.

Boston has played 8 of its 14 games without Larry Bird, who underwent surgery to remove bone spurs from both heels on Nov. 19. It has won five of the games without Bird.

Against New Jersey, the Celtics also were without guard Dennis Johnson, who had a strained Achilles’ tendon.

Phoenix 124, Houston 107--Armon Gilliam scored a career-high 35 points as the Suns won at Houston.

Tom Chambers added 26 points and 8 rebounds, and Kevin Johnson had 18 points and 13 assists for the Suns (6-7).

Otis Thorpe scored 17 points for Houston (8-6) and equaled his career-high with 19 rebounds. Akeem Olajuwon had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Buck Johnson scored 19 points.

Denver 139, New York 119--Alex English scored a season-high 41 points and Fat Lever scored 17 points, had 13 rebounds and 12 assists at Denver.

Denver led, 65-64, at halftime and opened the third quarter with a 16-0 run, led by Wayne Cooper’s 6 points. The Knicks did not score until 7:14 was left in the quarter, when Charles Oakley made 2 free throws.

Michael Adams scored 22 points for Denver and Walter Davis had 20.

Patrick Ewing scored 24 points for New York and Kenny Walker 16.

Milwaukee 119, Portland 114--Terry Cummings scored 29 points and Sidney Moncrief 23 as the Bucks held off the Trail Blazers at Milwaukee.

Jerome Kersey scored 32 points for Portland before fouling out with 9 seconds left. Kevin Duckworth added 27 for the Trail Blazers.

Atlanta 120, San Antonio 104--John Battle scored 7 points during a 15-2 run in the second quarter as the Hawks got their second straight victory at Atlanta.

Battle’s dunk put Atlanta ahead to stay, at 25-23, with 2:42 left in the first period. He capped the second-quarter spurt with a 3-point basket that gave the Hawks a 51-34 lead with 6:44 left in the half.

Dominique Wilkins scored 26 points for the Hawks, Moses Malone had 24 and Battle 21.

Seattle 109, Utah 102--Jerry Reynolds scored 8 of his 25 points during a 13-0 run at the end of the third quarter to lead the SuperSonics at Seattle.

Reynolds, who had not played in the previous 2 games, ignited the Sonics during rallies in both the second and third quarters.

With Seattle leading, 84-78, Reynolds started the game-breaking run with 2 free throws and added a jumper, dunk and 2 more free throws as the Sonics built a 97-78 lead.

Golden State 109, Chicago 99--Chris Mullin scored 29 points, including 13 as the Warriors erased a 10-point deficit in the third quarter at Oakland and snapped a 4-game losing streak.

Michael Jordan had 26 points but failed to lead Chicago in scoring for the first time in 91 games. Brad Sellers scored 32 points for the Bulls (6-7), who lost their third straight.