NBA Playoffs Roundup : Nuggets Win on Hanzlik’s Basket

Of the five Denver players on the court, the last one anybody expected to take the shot was defensive specialist Bill Hanzlik.

But it was Hanzlik, on a driving layup with three seconds left Saturday at Dallas, who gave the Nuggets a 107-105 victory over the Mavericks and a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven NBA Western Conference semifinal playoff series.

The play, designed by Coach Doug Moe during a timeout after Hanzlik rebounded a miss by Sam Perkins with 20 seconds left, was Hanzlik’s second basket in the final 35 seconds. It climaxed a stirring comeback by the Nuggets, who fell behind in the opening minute and never led until Hanzlik’s last shot.

“I hadn’t been shooting well (5 for 17 in three games), so Dallas never expected me to take the shot,” Hanzlik said. “I felt something good would happen. I threw in an off-balance shot to tie it. The (final) play was designed to look as though Mike Evans would take the shot.”

Moe said the Mavericks would be sure that Hanzlik would not be shooting.

“It was supposed to be a jump shot,” Moe said. “But he put a good fake on (Roy) Tarpley and made the drive. You have to get lucky sometime.”

The Mavericks jumped in front, 10-2, and still were on top, 87-78, after three quarters. When the Nuggets closed the gap in the closing minutes, Dallas Coach John MacLeod benched his top scorer, Mark Aguirre, in favor of the active big man, Tarpley.

Aguirre, who scored nine points in Thursday night’s win, made only 4 of 13 shots and had just missed two free throws when he was removed. The temperamental star sulked on the bench, hiding his face in a towel and not even joining in the timeout huddles during the closing minutes.

Rolando Blackman scored the last five Dallas points. His jumper with 72 seconds left gave the Mavericks a 105-101 lead. But Dallas didn’t score again. Fat Lever brought the Nuggets within two with a jumper, before Hanzlik’s wild, running one-hander set the stage for his final heroics.

Detroit 101, Chicago 79--The Pistons doubled up on Michael Jordan at Chicago and when it worked, they breezed to a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

The Bulls don’t always win when their best player has an outstanding game. When he is mediocre, as he was in this one, the Bulls are in trouble.

The Pistons not only held Jordan without a field goal for the first 19 minutes, they frustrated him so much, he threw a punch at Bill Laimbeer, the Pistons’ big, rough center.

It happened before the game was two minutes old. Laimbeer, called for an offensive foul, responded with an elbow smash, and Jordan retaliated by throwing a punch that missed.

“I never did that before,” Jordan said. “What Laimbeer did was uncalled for. I think it put me out of sync.”

The Pistons, who shot under 40% in each of the first two games, came out flying. Led by Isiah Thomas, they sank 8 of their first 10 shots for a 16-5 lead and were never headed.

Because of the double-team, Jordan was setting up his teammates for wide-open shots. But Sam Vincent, 11 for 14 in the Bulls’ win Thursday night, and Dave Corzine each missed several easy shots.

Jordan finished with a playoff-low 24 points, but he led the Bulls from a 20-point deficit to within 10 in the third period. Then Adrian Dantley made two clever moves on offense for two big baskets, and the threat was ended.