PISTONS OVERCOME 51 BY MOSES
Associated Press
Kelly Tripucka scored 45 points, including eight in overtime, as the Detroit Pistons overcame a 51-point performance by Moses Malone to defeat the host Philadelphia 76ers 137-133 last night.
The 76ers tied the game at 127-127 on a layup by Julius Erving but a three-point play by Vinnie Johnson and two free throws by Tripucka put the Pistons ahead to stay 132-127 with 2:17 left in overtime.
Malone's 51 points were two short of his career high.
At the end of regulation, Johnson sank a shot from the corner with two seconds left to send the game into overtime tied 120-120.
Erving had given the Sixers a 120-118 lead with a three-pointer with 11 seconds left and a pair of free throws five seconds later.Pacers 125, Rockets 117: Veteran Herb Williams scored a season-high 26 points and rookie Terence Stansbury added a career-high 25 as Indiana, taking advantage of three fourth- quarter technical fouls on Houston, beat the visiting Rockets.
The loss was Houston's first after eight straight victories in the young season, while Indiana, whose only other victory was against winless Cleveland, improved to 2-7.
The Pacers, leading by 12 points in the third quarter, fell behind early in the final period as the Rockets' John Lucas scored all 14 points during a 14-2 Houston spurt. Indiana regained a three-point edge before the string of technical fouls began.
Houston coach Bill Fitch got one technical protesting rookie Akeem Olajuwon's fifth personal foul with five minutes remaining. Stansbury and Tony Brown each got a free throw, then Stansbury got two more free throws after the Rockets got two technicals seven seconds apart for illegal zone defenses.
Stansbury, whose previous high was 15 points and had averaged only 7.6 points for the season, then added another basket, and rookie Vern Fleming scored on a three-point play to give the Pacers a safe 115-105 lead with three minutes to go.
Indiana matched its biggest lead of 12 points at 121-109 on a reverse stuff by Stansbury with a minute to go.
Brown and 7-foot Steve Stipanovich added 18 points apiece for the Pacers. Lucas topped the Rockets with 24 points, while Rodney McCray finished with 22 and Olajuwon, bothered by foul trouble most of the game, wound up with 20.
The Pacers, outrebounding the taller Rockets and getting three early fouls on both the 7-4 Ralph Sampson and 7-0 Olajuwon, steadily widened their lead to eight points after one quarter, 32-24, and took a 40-29 lead early in the second period.Celtics 115, Knicks 99: Larry Bird scored 29 points, Robert Parish 26, Kevin McHale 25 and Dennis Johnson 21, and host Boston rallied in the second half over injury-riddled New York.
Parish connected for 18 points in the first half, Bird connected for 11 in a decisive third period and McHale finished with 15 in the final quarter as the Celtics boosted their record to 7-1. Boston won its fifth victory in five starts at home.
The Knicks, who added high-scoring Bernard King to their injured list with a leg injury suffered Tuesday in a game in New York, surprised Boston with an 18-10 lead in the first period.
However, the Celtics came back to take a 27-24 lead by hitting 13 of 14 free throws in the final four minutes of the quarter.
In an overall team effort, New York, 2-8, edged in front 55-54 at halftime by outscoring Boston 31-27 in the second quarter.
The Knicks went ahead 72-68 in the third period before Bird hit on a three-point shot from the corner with 3:38 remaining in the period. That triggered a 15-6 spurt, which put Boston in front 83-78.
Rory Sparrow scored at the outset of the fourth period, but Boston converted five of six free throws and never was in danger, although Coach K.C. Jones waited until 1:23 from the end to send in reserves.Bullets 125, Spurs 106: Washington got 66 points from its reserves, including 21 by Darren Daye and 19 by Cliff Robinson, and swamped visiting San Antonio.
George Gervin, a perennial contender for the scoring title, scored only three points for the Spurs. He was 0-for-6 from the floor and played just 23 minutes while failing to score in double figures for only the seventh time in 652 NBA games.
Substitute Jeff Malone scored 12 points and Daye seven as the Bullets ran off 37 points in the second quarter to overcome a 26-22 first-quarter deficit and take a 59-49 lead at halftime.
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