NBA Roundup : Little-Known Gamble Helps Celtics to Big Win

A few hours after Larry Bird indicated that he didn’t expect to play again this season, his Boston Celtics took a giant step toward clinching a playoff spot.

Kevin Gamble, a 6-foot 5-inch guard making his first start in the National Basketball Assn., staged a dazzling performance to lead the Celtics to a 113-104 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers Friday night at Boston.

The victory over the team with the second-best record in the league put the Celtics two games ahead of Washington with five games left in the battle for the final playoff position in the East. One of the games is with the Bullets at Boston, where the Celtics have a 31-8 record.

Of all the players on the Celtic roster, Gamble figured as the least likely to be a star in a big game. All his playing had been in “garbage time,” when the game had been decided. He had the worst shooting percentage on the roster, 34.5%, and his 44.5% free-throw shooting was also the lowest. He started because Dennis Johnson has a sprained ankle.

Gamble played 38 minutes, was 10 for 18 from the field for 20 points and had seven rebounds and 10 assists. His jumper from the foul line with 2:53 left gave the Celtics their biggest lead, 107-94.

In the third quarter, with the Cavaliers leading, 73-66, Gamble scored the last four points in a 10-0 spurt that put Boston ahead to stay.

The Celtics signed Gamble, who played at Iowa, to fill the roster after Bird had surgery on both Achilles’ tendons. Gamble was picked by Portland in the 1987 draft, the 63rd player chosen. After Portland released him, he played in the Continental Basketball Assn.

The loss probably ended the Cavaliers’ slim hopes of finishing with the best record. They failed to take advantage of a Detroit loss and still trail the Pistons by 3 1/2 games with only four games left.

“I always felt I could play in this league,” Gamble said. “In the first half, I had no confidence in my shot, but it came around in the second half. I don’t think I was surprised by the way I played.”

Bird gave the first indication that he didn’t want to play again this season.

“I don’t think if I played I could help the team,” he said. “I tire easily.

“If the Celtics want me to play, I’ll go out there, but they’re going to be responsible for everything that happens. I don’t know if I’ll ever be 100%, but I feel better than before the surgery.”

New York 104, Detroit 100--Only one team, the Knicks, has been able to handle the Pistons this season.

Patrick Ewing had 32 points and 15 rebounds at New York and his baseline jumper with a minute to play put the Knicks in front to stay.

The Knicks, the only team the Pistons have not beaten this season, are 4-0 against the team with the best record in the league.

Charlotte 119, Philadelphia 115--The 76ers played as if they have already clinched the seventh spot in the East in this game at Philadelphia.

The Hornets, with Kelly Tripucka scoring 34 points, ended the 76ers’ five-game home winning streak and cut the 76ers’ lead over Boston to two games.

The eighth-place team faces Detroit in the first round.

The 76ers led, 108-105, with five minutes left. But Robert Reid sank a jumper, and Tripucka made a three-point basket. The Hornets wrapped it up with two jumpers by Kurt Rambis.

New Jersey 123, Chicago 111--Michael Jordan continues to make triple-doubles as the Bulls’ point guard, but his team is in a tailspin approaching the playoffs.

Mike McGee made five of six three-point shots, and the Nets, with nothing to lose, fired up 10 bombs and made eight at East Rutherford, N.J.

Although he was only 11 for 27 from the field, Jordan had 29 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists in the Bulls’ fifth straight loss.

Dallas 118, San Antonio 110--It may be too late for their playoff hopes, but the Mavericks have finally found a 1-2 punch up front.

Adrian Dantley and Roy Tarpley, playing together for only the second time, scored 62 points at San Antonio as the Mavericks breezed.

Tarpley, in only his second game since returning from drug rehabilitation, played 38 minutes and contributed 28 points and 10 rebounds. Dantley had nine rebounds to go with his 34 points.

Utah 122, Houston 96--Karl Malone scored eight of his 35 points in the first two minutes at Salt Lake City to get the Jazz off to a fast start en route to the clincher in the Midwest Division.

John Stockton had 18 points, 11 assists and five steals as the Jazz, only the second team to clinch a title this season, won a club-record 48th game.

Otis Thorpe got 29 points and 14 rebounds for the Rockets.

Portland 97, Miami 86--There is only one playoff spot in the West undecided, and the Trail Blazers moved closer to winning it in this game at Portland.

Clyde Drexler had 20 points and 15 rebounds as the Blazers held off the pesky Heat to win their 39th game. They lead Dallas by 3 1/2 games and could clinch by winning two of their last five games.