NBA Roundup : Dantley Scores 32; Mavericks Win by 34

Adrian Dantley had a stuttering start as a Maverick in Dallas, but he was a roaring success in his second game.

Dantley came off the bench to score 32 points Saturday night and lead the Mavericks on a 127-93 romp over the Washington Bullets at Dallas.

After going 0 for 7 Friday night when the Mavericks were pounded by the Golden State Warriors, 127-92, it figured that Dantley, who delayed reporting for eight days after being traded by Detroit for Mark Aguirre, would make amends.

Dantley and Rolando Blackman teamed up to lead a 28-8 run that started late in the second quarter and broke the game open.

Dantley was 11 for 14 from the field and a perfect 10 for 10 from the line in just 29 minutes.

After his performance in his debut at Dallas, Dantley apologized. “I was terrible out there,” he told the Associated Press. “I’ve got to get used to my teammates and they’ve got to get used to me.”

It certainly didn’t take long and the Mavericks played probably their best game since they lost Roy Tarpley because of drug rehabilitation. They ended the Bullets’ three-game winning streak.

By the fourth quarter Dantley, who hit the first shot he took when he entered the game in the first quarter, had the sellout crowd on its feet shouting.

“I thought we played well,” Coach John MacLeod said, “but don’t forget the Bullets were tired after playing at fever pitch last night to beat the Knicks and then flying here.”

Detroit 113, New Jersey 95--The player the Pistons received for Dantley, Aguirre, was brilliant in his fourth game with his new club.

In this game at East Rutherford, N.J., Aguirre scored 31 points in just 26 minutes. He too was deadly, making 12 of 16 field goal attempts.

After making only six of their first 19 shots and falling behind, 16-12, the Pistons turned deadly, making 40 of their last 68 shots.

“I’m not really concerned with scoring,” Aguirre said. “I’m just trying to hustle, work hard and contribute any way I can. Whatever scoring I get will be that much extra.”

Although the Nets are 21-34, another sellout crowd of 20,049 showed up to cheer the hustling young Nets.

Sacramento 97, Seattle 94--Dale Ellis has had a big season, but he picked a poor time to go stone cold at Seattle, and it caused the SuperSonics to lose a shocker.

Ellis, averaging 28 points and sinking 51.4% of his shots, made only three of 17 and had just 11 points.

Ken Smith, with 24 points and 12 assists, led the Kings to just their fourth victory in 28 road games. They dropped the third-place Sonics 3 1/2 games behind the Lakers in the Pacific Division.

Wayman Tisdale, who complained of not enough playing time before Indiana traded him to the Kings, had no complaints. He had 20 points and eight rebounds in 44 minutes.

Atlanta 125, Chicago 95--Every once in awhile the Hawks resemble the team that many people thought was the favorite to win the championship in the NBA this season.

In winning their sixth win in the last seven games, the Hawks could do no wrong at Atlanta.

They overwhelmed the Bulls on the boards, 58-29, they kept the ball out of Michael Jordan’s hands and had scoring punch from Moses Malone and Glenn Rivers. Both scored 22 points.

The Bulls, who played a tough game Friday night with Houston, stayed close for a half, but when Atlanta took charge in the third and stretched a 60-55 lead to 94-71 Jordan left, never to return.

Charlotte 124, San Antonio 113--Kelly Tripucka and Kurt Rambis, two of the more experienced players on the expansion team, led the Hornets to their 15th victory in this game at Charlotte, N.C.

Tripucka scored 40 points and had nine assists and Rambis had 16 points and a career-high 22 rebounds. It was the 10th consecutive loss for the Spurs.

Milwaukee 121, Houston 105--While the big men did a good job of holding down Akeem Olajuwon at Milwaukee, the Bucks’ guards destroyed the Rockets.

Bouncing back from their collapse on Friday night against Boston, the Bucks jumped in front early and never were in trouble.

Paul Pressey had 25 points and Jay Humphries, the other starter in the backcourt, had 20. Backup Ricky Pierce had 22 and Sidney Moncrief, just getting back in shape from a knee injury, had six in just 13 minutes.

Olajuwon had 26 points and 10 rebounds, but the Rockets lost their fourth in a row on the road and trail Utah in the Midwest Division by 1 1/2 games.