The Atlanta Hawks are soaring behind the hottest forward duo in the NBA, Dominique Wilkins and Kevin Willis.
Wilkins scored a season-high 48 points and Willis, listed as doubtful before the game because of a strained thigh, had 32 points and a season-high 25 rebounds Monday night in Atlanta's 127-118 overtime victory over Portland."I'm proud of our performance," Willis said. "We were able to hold off a good team and maintain our composure."
"Kevin had an amazing performance, especially not knowing if he was going to play or not," Atlanta coach Bob Weiss said.
It was the fifth consecutive win overall and ninth straight at home for the Hawks, who have climbed into sixth place in the Eastern Conference with 11 victories in 12 games.
"Right now we feel really confident about ourselves and we are playing together," said Wilkins, averaging 36.6 points in those 11 wins.
The Hawks ended Portland's four-game winning streak and dropped the Blazers one game behind San Antonio in the race for the fourth playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Cliff Robinson scored a career-high 39 points on 18-for-25 shooting for the Trail Blazers.
"I had some good looks at the basket and I was just trying to take my time," Robinson said. "This is a key time because we want to catch San Antonio. The homecourt advantage in the playoffs is so crucial."
The Hawks led by five with 53 seconds left in regulation, but Portland came back to take a 108-106 lead with 12 seconds remaining. Stacey Augmon's two free throws with 6.0 seconds to go tied the score, and Terry Porter missed a jumper, forcing overtime.
Willis made the key play in overtime when he grabbed a missed free throw by Jon Koncak and converted a three-point play that gave Atlanta a seven-point lead. The Hawks, who blew a 19-point third-quarter lead, outscored the Blazers 12-2 in the final 1:19 of overtime.
Celtics 110, Kings 89
Boston won its eighth straight game as Kevin Gamble scored 28 points and Joe Kleine had a career-high 20 rebounds in a rout of visiting Sacramento.
The Celtics opened a 32-12 lead late in the first quarter, survived a Kings rally in the second period and led by at least 12 points throughout the second half.
Kleine, playing for injured center Robert Parish, surpassed his previous high of 18 rebounds against Chicago in December 1985 while he was a rookie with Sacramento. Parish has a sprained left ankle and could return Wednesday night against Philadelphia.
The Kings, who have lost six of seven games, were led by Walt Williams with 22 points.
Bullets 114, Bucks 107
Washington won for just the seventh time in 35 road games, outscoring Milwaukee 40-30 in the third quarter.
Michael Adams and Rex Chapman scored 24 points each and Harvey Grant had 23 for the Bullets, who extended a 50-43 halftime lead to 17 points in the third period behind 11 points from Adams and nine by Grant.
Larry Stewart's short jumper with 2:10 remaining put Washington ahead 82-63 and Milwaukee got no closer than seven the rest of the way.
The Bucks, led by Brad Lohaus with 21 points, have lost nine of 12 games.