NBA Roundup : Versace Ejected, Pacers Still Dejected, 132-99

Indiana Coach Dick Versace, making his first appearance in the Detroit area since leaving his job as a Piston assistant 8 games ago to take over the struggling Pacers, didn’t see much of his new team’s 132-99 loss to the Pistons Friday night.

He was ejected by referee Joe Crawford with 8:12 left in the second period of the Pacers’ fifth straight loss.

Bill Laimbeer, with a season-high 27 points, and Adrian Dantley, with 25, led the Pistons to their third straight victory. With substitutes playing most of the fourth quarter, Detroit led by as many as 37 points.

Versace said his behavior leading to his ejection was not an attempt to inject spirit in the visibly flat Pacers.

“I don’t think right now with this ballclub I should have to resort to histrionics,” he said.

Versace charged to midcourt and went chest to chest with Crawford before being led from the court, stomping loudly.

Boston 117, Philadelphia 109--Dennis Johnson hit 3 long jump shots down the stretch, and the Celtics withstood a 76er fourth-quarter comeback at Boston.

Johnson broke a 105-105 tie with an 18-footer, then added a 20-footer with 1:54 left after Philadelphia turned the ball over on a 24-second violation.

With Boston ahead, 113-109, Johnson capped a 22-point game with another 18-footer, enabling the Celtics to snap a 3-game losing streak and hand Philadelphia just its second loss in 8 games.

The Celtics made 46 of 70 field-goal attempts for 65.7%, the top shooting performance in the NBA this season.

Utah 98, Milwaukee 96--Karl Malone’s jumper with 2 seconds remaining gave the Jazz a victory at Salt Lake City. It was the Bucks’ first loss in 9 games against Western Conference teams.

Milwaukee led, 96-94, on Paul Pressey’s layup with 57 seconds left. Malone, who scored 15 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter, made 2 free throws to tie it.

After Milwaukee failed to score, Malone hit his winning jumper from 20 feet out on the left side off a pass from John Stockton.

Utah called a timeout and inbounded to Jack Sikma, who missed a 20-footer at the buzzer.

Stockton had 20 points and 10 assists for the Jazz.

Golden State 121, Houston 114--Mitch Richmond’s 3-pointer triggered a 10-point fourth-quarter run at Oakland as the Warriors won their seventh straight, matching their longest streak in 14 years.

Houston lost its fourth straight and dropped out of a first-place tie with Utah in the Midwest Division.

Sleepy Floyd scored 35 points for the Rockets and had 12 assists.

For the Warriors, Chris Mullin scored 26.