NBA Roundup : Trail Blazers’ Sub Routine Ends Celtic Streaks

For nearly 30 NBA seasons, the Boston Celtics have made the sixth man--the first man off the bench--synonymous with winning basketball.

It all began when Coach Red Auerbach used Frank Ramsey as his No. 1 substitute during the 1956-57 season. It continued through John Havlicek and Kevin McHale down to the current sixth man, Bill Walton.

For one game at least, Coach Jack Ramsay of the Portland Trail Blazers improved on the routine. He made use of a sixth man and a seventh man Friday night, and his team breezed to a shocking 121-103 victory over the Celtics.

Reserves Jerome Kersey and Steve Colter each scored 22 points as the Trail Blazers ended a three-game losing streak, handed the Celtics their first home loss after nine victories and ended the Celtics’ nine-game winning streak.

Kersey was the key. The second-year 6-7 forward from little-known Longwood College in Virginia scored 20 points in the second half. He came off the bench in the third quarter after the Blazers had squandered a 19-point lead and fallen behind, 75-74. He made four consecutive shots in an 11-2 spurt that put Portland in command once again.

Colter, a second-year 6-3 guard from New Mexico State, had the other basket in the rally and sparked an early fourth-quarter run that built the lead to 99-83. The Celtics signaled that they had given up at this point, with eight minutes left, by removing Larry Bird.

Coach K.C. Jones, unaccustomed to seeing his Celtics (17-3) outplayed so thoroughly, departed a few minutes later, after receiving his second technical foul.

Kersey has been playing only about 10 minutes a game, but with Kiki Vandeweghe out with an injury, he made the most of his opportunity.

Kersey played 22 minutes and had five steals. Colter played 27 minutes, had three steals and five assists.

“Colter, we didn’t know much about him and were laying off him,” Danny Ainge said. “By the time we realized he was a good penetrator, it was too late. Then Kersey would come in and slam it home.”

Denver 123, Philadelphia 121--An indication of how much injuries have hurt the once-powerful 76ers was that recent-acquisition Paul Thompson took the shot at the buzzer when they were trying to win it with a three-pointer.

The 76ers were missing starters Julius Erving, Andrew Toney and Sedale Threatt for this game at Philadelphia and they trailed almost all the way. But a three-point basket by Leon Wood with five seconds left gave them a chance.

Wood cut the deficit to 122-121, and the 76ers fouled Lafayette Lever two seconds later. Lever made only one of two free throw attempts.

After a timeout, the 76ers had three seconds left and the ball at midcourt. Instead of trying for a tie, the 76ers went for broke. Thompson’s desperate 25-footer didn’t even draw iron.

Alex English scored 14 of his 34 points in the second quarter to give the Nuggets a 63-55 halftime lead. The 76ers scored the first eight points of the third quarter, but the Nuggets scored the next eight and led the rest of the way.

Atlanta 94, Milwaukee 93--Scott Hastings tipped in a missed shot by Dominique Wilkins with three seconds left at Atlanta after the Hawks squandered a 75-64 lead in the final quarter.

The Bucks held a 93-92 lead, but Wilkins stole an inbound pass, and the Hawks called a timeout. There were six seconds left, and Hastings made his first appearance of the game. Wilkins missed a 22-footer, but Hastings knocked the rebound into the basket.

Indiana 107, New York 83--Herb Williams almost outscored the Knicks in the first half at Indianapolis and wound up with a career-high 37 points to lead the Pacers to an easy victory.

The Knicks outscored Williams by only three points, 26-23, in the first half. At one time in the second quarter, the Knicks trailed by 32 points. They never made a game of it.

Washington 115, Seattle 109--Gus Williams scored 10 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter at Landover, Md., and the Bullets held the SuperSonics to one field goal in the last 8:21. When the Sonics went cold, they were leading, 96-90.

Phoenix 111, Utah 92--Larry Nance scored 15 of his 28 points in the first period at Phoenix, and Walter Davis took charge in the third quarter to lead the Suns to victory. Davis had 11 points in the quarter and helped break open a tight game.

Chicago 131, San Antonio 123--The Bulls started four former Spurs, but Quintin Dailey, who didn’t play for the Spurs, led the way with 27 points at San Antonio.

George Gervin, Dave Corzine, John Paxson and Gene Banks started against their former mates.