NBA ROUNDUP : Dantley Is Back in Game for Bucks, Barkley Out for 76ers in 121-104 Loss

The Milwaukee Bucks, who strengthened themselves for the playoffs earlier in the day by signing Adrian Dantley, beat a Philadelphia 76er team weakened by the the absence of Charles Barkley, 121-104, Tuesday night at Philadelphia.

Barkley has a torn knee ligament and might be sidelined for the season. With Fred Roberts getting a career-high 32 points, the Bucks won so easily that they were able to play an out-of-shape Dantley for the entire fourth quarter.

It was the first game action in more than a year for Dantley, who appeared in 45 games for the Dallas Mavericks last season before suffering a broken left leg.

“I felt really winded,” said Dantley, who made one of three shots. “I was out of breath, but it felt good to get in there for a while.

“I didn’t know the plays, but that will take time.”

The Bucks brought Dantley out of retirement after guard Dale Ellis was sidelined for the season because of a back injury.

Phoenix 131, Utah 117--Kevin Johnson had 37 points and 20 assists at Phoenix as the Suns won their third in a row and remained four games behind Portland.

The Suns, who are 28-7 at home, have 10 games to play, six of them at home. The Trail Blazers have six road games left and only four at home. The teams will play at Phoenix in the last game of the regular season.

After Utah, which never led, closed to 72-71 in the third quarter, Johnson scored 12 points in the next 2:02 and the Jazz was on its way to its third road loss in a row.

Portland 104, Minnesota 93--The Trail Blazers opened their last trip of the season at Minneapolis, getting their seventh victory in a row.

Jerome Kersey and Terry Porter keyed a third-quarter surge that broke it open. Kersey scored 13 of his 25 and Porter 10 of his 15 in a 33-point quarter.

The Timberwolves played the Blazers even for a half, but fell to their fifth consecutivedefeat.

In the next week the Trail Blazers, tied with Chicago for the best record in the NBA, will play five games on the road. The last two will be Tuesday at Houston and April 10 at San Antonio.

Chicago 106, Orlando 102--As turmoil threatened to undo the Bulls, Michael Jordan took charge at Chicago, and the Bulls barely overcame the Magic.

Jordan, who made all six of his first-quarter shots, finished with a season-high 44 points, including an alley-oop dunk in the last minute that put the Bulls ahead to stay.

Stacy King, unhappy about lack of playing time, was suspended for missing practice. Scottie Pippen, upset about a lack of progress in contract negotiations, hinted he might not play his best. Pippen had 21 points.

Boston 94, New Jersey 77--The Celtics took advantage of some terrible shooting by the Nets at East Rutherford, N.J., to score an easy victory.

The Celtics shot 4l.7% to 32.2% for the Nets, who had their lowest point total of the season.

Reggie Lewis led the Celtics with 22 points, leading a 16-2 spurt in the second quarter that put the Celtics ahead to stay.

Detroit 83, Charlotte 78--Joe Dumars scored 24 points and extended his club-record free throw streak to 59 as the Pistons won their fourth in a row at Charlotte.

Dumars, who was nine for 20 from the field, sank his five free throws. The Pistons, again without injured James Edwards, had 23 points from his replacement, Mark Aguirre.

Washington 101, Cleveland 82--The Bullets held the Cavaliers without a basket for almost eight minutes to start the fourth quarter at Landover, Md.

Dallas 133, Denver 126--Denver guards Michael Adams and Chris Jackson had 37 and 30 points, respectively, but the Nuggets still lost their 14th in a row on the road.

Sacramento 96, Miami 90--The Kings improved to 19-16 at home behind Travis Mays’ 25 points.