NBA ROUNDUP : Robinson at Home With 34-Point Game

It was a homecoming of sorts for David Robinson at Landover, Md., and he responded as if he’d never been away.

Robinson, who played his college basketball at the Naval Academy, scored a season-high 34 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs to their seventh consecutive victory, 107-97 over the Washington Bullets.

The Bullets lost their fourth in a row, despite 26 points from Jeff Malone and 17 from Darrell Walker.

Bernard King was held to 14 points on a night when he was only two of 16 from the field but had to keep playing because of the lack of firepower on the Washington bench.

The Spurs don’t have that problem anymore. “We’ve got a real balance,� Robinson said. “If I’m not scoring, Terry (Cummings) is. If Terry isn’t, I am, and we’ve got Sean (Elliott) and Willie (Anderson), too. We’re tough when we want to be.�

The play of Anderson and the other San Antonio guards helped the Spurs improve their record to 19-7, best in the Midwest Division and second best in the league to the Lakers’ 20-6.

San Antonio went to a four-guard alignment late in the third quarter, after squandering most of a 16-point halftime lead, and quickly regained control of the game with six consecutive points. Washington got no closer than six the rest of the way.

Cummings scored 17 points and Anderson had 14.

“It was good to get back here and show people I can still play,� Robinson said. “I’ve still got a little of it left.�

Detroit 99, Cleveland 82--In recent years James Edwards has been a backup center. As such, he was a key figure in the Pistons’ drive to the championship.

After the Pistons lost Rick Mahorn in the expansion draft, they started poorly, then moved Edwards into the starting lineup as a power forward.

Adjusting was no problem for the 34-year-old Edwards. His presence has helped the Pistons start playing the way they did last season.

Edwards had 25 points at Richfield, Ohio, and the Pistons won their fourth in a row. Since Edwards became a starter, the Pistons are 10-5.

Dallas 114, Atlanta 101--Slowly, the Mavericks are beginning to play well together.

Derek Harper scored 25 points to lead six Mavericks in double figures at Dallas in a relatively easy victory. Dallas is 9-6 since Rich Adubato replaced John MacLeod as coach.

The Mavericks have won four in a row to improve to 14-12.

Atlanta missed a chance to pull into a tie for first place in the Central Division and fell to .500 (6-6) on the road.

“This was our best overall game,� Adubato said. “We were very aggressive and played excellent team defense against a well-coached team.�

Indiana 106, Orlando 101--Rik Smits scored 11 of the Pacers’ last 14 points at Orlando.

Reggie Theus had 30 points and 10 assists for the Magic.

Seattle 110, Philadelphia 106--Dale Ellis scored 13 of his 33 points in the third quarter at Seattle to give the SuperSonics the lead for good. The 76ers fought back from a 92-78 deficit, but fell a bit short.

Boston 115, Sacramento 112--The Kings’ losing streak stretched to 10 games, this loss coming in overtime when Larry Bird scored nine of Boston’s 14 points.