Bullets’ King Has to Take Himself Out : Basketball: He is hospitalized briefly after having shortness of breath, possibly because of an allergic reaction.

BOSTON —  The Washington Bullets got much more than a 119-101 loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday. They received a major scare when Bernard King left the court in the third period, departed Boston Garden on a stretcher and was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital.

King was examined by Celtic team physician Arnold Scheller before he left the Garden. As a precaution, he was given oxygen and taken out on a stretcher.

“They think he had some kind of an allergic reaction,” Bullet Coach Wes Unseld said.

After about 1 1/2 hours at the hospital for observation, King was released and walked out with trainer John Lally. The two joined the team for a late-afternoon flight back to Washington.

Neither had any comment.

Bullet public relations director Rick Moreland said in a statement that King “did have some shortness of breath, he experienced dizziness and an erratic heartbeat. That’s why he was taken to the hospital. Presently, he is coherent. He is talking. Everything appears to be fine.”

King left the game with 7:40 left in the third quarter after going back onto the court following a Washington timeout. He called for a 20-second timeout and went back to the bench. He took some antacid medication. A couple of minutes later he went to the locker room with Lally.

“We’re out there playing,” guard A.J. English said, “and I thought we just needed a 20-second timeout to get things straight. You turn around and Bernard’s gone.”

Unseld said the Celtics’ medical people “judged him to be hyperventilating. . . .”

“It was just during that minute where he had trouble breathing and asked the trainer for one of those ammonia capsules and then tried to go back on the court and felt he couldn’t do it,” the coach said. “Whatever judgments they’ve made, I’ve not been apprised of it.”

Moreland said King left the impression he was going to the team’s next practice.

The scare overshadowed a game in which the Bullets, wracked by injuries, had six healthy players by game’s end.

They had only the league minimum of eight players suited up, and Charles Jones was in uniform knowing he wouldn’t play on his pulled left hamstring. Pervis Ellison played 30 minutes despite back spasms that had him wrapped afterward in ice from his shoulder blades to his hips.

With Darrell Walker (strained right knee), Mark Alarie (laceration under the right eye) and Ledell Eackles (flu) not even on the trip, the Bullets’ loss could have been worse.

English played 45 minutes. Harvey Grant (20 points) played 41 minutes. Byron Irvin went 39 minutes. Greg Foster played 34 minutes as a substitute.