NBA Roundup : Bol Has a Block Party, Swatting Away Near-Record 15 in Bullet Victory

Manute Bol may be a natural with a spear, but he’s pretty talented empty-handed, too.

Bol, the 7-6 rookie from the Sudan, blocked 15 shots--two short of Elmore Smith’s record--to lead the Washington Bullets to a 111-103 victory over the Atlanta Hawks Saturday night at Landover, Md.

“He’s athletic, he has instincts and he’s also tall (10-3 with arms extended),” Washington Coach Gene Shue said. “He has long arms so he doesn’t have to be off his feet to block shots.

“When you block a shot, you try to keep the ball in play. Elmore Smith was a good shot blocker, but he’d swat half of them out of bounds. Manute is the best. He has arrived. He’s doing some incredible things now, but he’s going to improve.”

Smith, playing for the Lakers, set his mark in a game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Oct. 18, 1973. The league began keeping the statistic in the 1973-74 season.

Bol, who had 4 points and 4 rebounds, blocked 12 shots in a game earlier this season.

“I feel like playing defense all of the time and making someone miss the shot,” Bol said.

Cliff Robinson scored a season-high 38 points, including 13 in the final four minutes, and Jeff Malone added 29 for the Bullets.

Trailing, 83-81, after three quarters, Washington scored eight of the first 10 points in the final period and never trailed again while winning its fourth straight.

Dominique Wilkins scored 35 points for Atlanta.

Milwaukee 104, New York 88--Sidney Moncrief scored 24 points and Terry Cummings added 23 as the Bucks trounced the Knicks at New York for their 12th victory in 15 games.

Bill Cartwright, playing in his first game at home after missing 124 games with a broken left foot, reinjured the foot and was taken to a local hospital for X-rays.

The Knicks led, 50-46, at the half, but Milwaukee went ahead to stay, 68-65, on Moncrief’s three-point play with 4:17 left in the third quarter.

Houston 117, Detroit 112--Akeem Olajuwon scored 12 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter and grabbed 18 rebounds as the Rockets came from behind to defeat the Pistons at Houston.

The Rockets are 23-1 at home.

Isiah Thomas scored 27 points for Detroit, Kelly Tripucka added 20 and Bill Laimbeer had 16 points and 15 rebounds.

Detroit led, 83-79, going into the fourth quarter, but Olajuwon scored six points and the Rockets outscored Detroit, 12-6, to forge a 104-99 advantage with 4:04 to play.

Chicago 133, Phoenix 114--Orlando Woolridge scored 44 points and Sidney Green added 27, both career highs, and the Bulls trounced the Suns at Chicago to end a five-game losing streak.

Walter Davis came off the bench for the Suns to score 30 points, 16 in the final quarter, but couldn’t keep Phoenix from going down to its fifth straight defeat.

James Edwards had 23 points and Larry Nance added 20 for Chicago.

Dallas 123, San Antonio 107--Mark Aguirre scored 30 points and Rolando Blackmon scored 20 of his 29 in the second half as the Mavericks snapped a three-game losing streak by turning back the Spurs at San Antonio.

The Spurs cut Dallas’ lead to 106-102 on Jon Sundvold’s layup with less than four minutes left, but Dallas iced the victory by scoring 11 straight points.

Alvin Robertson scored 23 points for the Spurs.

Seattle 109, New Jersey 99--Xavier McDaniel scored 22 points and the SuperSonics broke a six-game losing streak by stopping the Nets at Seattle.

The Nets closed the gap to 87-83 with 7:40 remaining, but Al Wood ran off six straight points in the next minute to help the Sonics regain control. Jack Sikma scored eight of Seattle’s last 11 points to seal the victory.

New Jersey collapsed after Darryl Dawkins fouled out with 5:50 seconds to play. The Nets drew two technical fouls complaining about the call and Sikma sank both foul shots for an 11-point lead.

Indiana 124, Golden State 10--Herb Williams came off the bench to score 27 points and the Pacers beat the Warriors in a meeting of the league’s worst teams at Indianapolis.

Portland 129, Sacramento 125--Clyde Drexler made two free throws with 12 seconds left and then stole the inbounds pass to assure the Trail Blazers of a victory over the Kings at Sacramento.