O’Neal, Orlando Rip Celtics By 47
Shaquille O’Neal guaranteed the Orlando Magic wouldn’t be swept in the first round of the playoffs again, and kept his word Friday night.
The Atlantic Division champions buried memories of last year’s threeand-out showing against Indiana, riding O’Neal’s inspired play and improved free-throw shooting to rout Boston 124-77 in Orlando, Fla.
“I don’t look at it the way everybody else does - that we finally got a playoff win,” Orlando coach Brian Hill said. “People say that like we have been going to the playoffs for 100 years. We had played three games. … We are a different basketball team, and it’s a different year all together.”
No one has felt the pressure more than O’Neal, whose poor foul shooting is the team’s biggest weakness. He was a different player at the line Friday night, more deliberate in his approach and in his result - he made 11 of 14 on his way to 23 points.
It was Boston’s worst loss, eclipsing a 44-point shellacking applied by Portland in 1977.
“We entered (Friday’s) game like a bunch of high school kids,” said Dino Radja, held to 10 points.
BOSTON (77)
Wilkins 5-13 4-4 14, Strong 0-3 0-2 0, Montross 2-4 2-2 6, Brown 7-15 5-5 20, Douglas 2-13 4-4 8, Radja 3-10 4-6 10, Ellison 2-2 0-0 4, McDaniel 1-6 0-0 2, Minor 5-10 1-1 11, Earl 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 28-79 20-26 77.
ORLANDO (124)
Royal 2-7 6-8 10, Grant 6-11 3-3 15, O’Neal 6-14 11-14 23, Hardaway 5-9 0-1 10, Anderson 5-9 7-7 20, Rollins 3-3 0-0 6, Scott 4-12 3-3 13, Shaw 0-1 0-0 0, Bowie 5-8 0-0 10, Turner 4-8 1-1 11, Avent 0-2 0-0 0, Thompson 2-2 0-0 6. Totals 42-86 31-37 124.
Boston 13 23 20 21 - 77
Orlando 30 24 34 36 - 124
3-Point goals-Boston 1-8 (Brown 1-4, Wilkins 0-1, McDaniel 0-1, Douglas 0-2), Orlando 9-17 (Anderson 3-6, Thompson 2-2, Turner 2-3, Scott 2-5, Hardaway 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Boston 47 (Wilkins 9), Orlando 60 (Grant 14). Assists-Boston 17 (Douglas 6), Orlando 27 (Hardaway 5). Total fouls-Boston 27, Orlando 25. Technicals-Boston illegal defense 2. A-16,010 (16,010).
Spurs 104, Nuggets 88
San Antonio
Sean Elliott scored 13 of his 21 points in the third quarter for San Antonio.
DENVER (88)
R.Williams 3-13 4-4 12, Rogers 3-7 0-2 6, Mutombo 3-4 1-1 7, Rose 5-10 1-3 11, Stith 6-11 3-3 16, B.Williams 5-9 2-2 12, Levingston 1-2 0-0 2, D.Ellis 2-9 1-2 6, Abdul-Rauf 1-8 5-5 8, Grant 0-3 0-0 0, Hammonds 3-4 2-4 8. Totals 32-80 19-26 88.
SAN ANTONIO (104)
Rodman 1-6 1-2 3, Elliott 8-13 2-4 21, Robinson 5-12 4-6 14, Johnson 6-12 3-4 15, Del Negro 7-13 4-4 18, Person 4-7 2-3 10, Reid 2-4 10-11 14, Rivers 2-6 0-0 4, Cummings 2-5 1-1 5, Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Haley 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 37-79 27-35 104.
Denver 29 14 17 28 - 88
San Antonio 25 23 30 26 - 104
3-Point goals-Denver 5-20 (R.Williams 2-6, Stith 1-2, Abdul-Rauf 1-5, D.Ellis 1-5, Rogers 0-1, Grant 0-1), San Antonio 3-9 (Elliott 3-4, Person 0-2, Rivers 0-3). Fouled out- B.Williams. Rebounds-Denver 52 (B.Williams 12), San Antonio 53 (Rodman 11). Assists-Denver 17 (Stith, R.Williams, Grant 3), San Antonio 22 (Johnson 8). Total fouls-Denver 31, San Antonio 22. Technicals-Rose, Denver coach Bickerstaff, Denver illegal defense 2, Rodman, San Antonio coach Hill. Flagrant foul-Rose. A-25,235 (34,215).
Suns 129, Trail Blazers 102
Phoenix
Charles Barkley scored 29 points and had 11 of his 16 rebounds in the second half, and Dan Majerle hit 7 of 10 3-pointers for Phoenix.
PORTLAND (102)
C.Robinson 5-12 2-2 14, Williams 4-7 4-6 12, Dudley 0-1 1-4 1, Grant 4-9 3-4 13, Strickland 9-21 5-5 23, Thorpe 3-7 1-2 7, McKie 6-11 0-0 13, Kersey 5-8 0-0 10, Porter 2-4 0-0 4, Edwards 0-1 0-0 0, Bryant 1-2 0-2 2, J.Robinson 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 40-85 16-25 102.
PHOENIX (129)
Barkley 12-18 5-7 29, Green 3-9 6-6 12, Kleine 0-1 0-0 0, Johnson 5-9 2-2 12, Person 3-9 1-1 7, Tisdale 10-14 1-1 21, Majerle 8-11 2-2 25, Ainge 1-3 0-0 2, Perry 2-5 9-9 14, Schayes 2-3 0-0 4, Dumas 0-1 0-0 0, Ruffin 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 47-85 26-28 129.
Portland 31 31 16 24 - 102
Phoenix 30 32 30 37 - 129
3-Point goals-Portland 6-16 (C.Robinson 2-5, Grant 2-4, McKie 1-1, J.Robinson 1-2, Porter 0-2, Strickland 0-2), Phoenix 9-20 (Majerle 7-10, Perry 1-1, Ruffin 1-2, Person 0-1, Green 0-2, Barkley 0-2, Ainge 0-2). Fouled out- None. Rebounds-Portland 48 (Grant, Dudley 7), Phoenix 46 (Barkley 16). Assists-Portland 23 (Strickland 13), Phoenix 26 (Johnson 10). Total fouls-Portland 28, Phoenix 23. Technicals-Kersey, C.Robinson, Phoenix illegal defense. Flagrant foul-Kersey. A-19,023 (19,023).
Bulls 108, Charlotte 100 (OT)
CHICAGO (108)
Kukoc 7-14 1-2 17, Pippen 2-3 3-4 8, Perdue 0-4 0-2 0, Armstrong 3-5 2-2 10, Jordan 18-32 11-11 48, Blount 0-0 0-0 0, Wennington 3-6 0-0 6, Longley 6-12 2-2 14, Kerr 1-1 0-0 3, Myers 1-3 0-0 2, Buechler 0-1 0-0 0, Harper 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 41-81 19-23 108.
CHARLOTTE (100)
Johnson 6-18 6-6 18, Wingate 3-3 3-4 10, Mourning 13-26 3-7 32, Bogues 2-10 2-2 6, Hawkins 3-6 2-2 8, Parish 1-3 2-4 4, Curry 4-11 2-2 13, Gattison 3-5 3-6 9, Hancock 0-0 0-0 0, Sutton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 35-83 23-33 100.
Chicago 31 20 20 21 16 - 108
Charlotte 30 19 18 25 8 - 100
3-Point goals-Chicago 7-14 (Armstrong 2-3, Kukoc 2-4, Pippen 1-1, Kerr 1-1, Jordan 1-4, Myers 0-1), Charlotte 7-20 (Mourning 3-6, Curry 3-7, Wingate 1-1, Bogues 0-1, Sutton 0-1, Johnson 0-4). Fouled out-Pippen, Hawkins. Rebounds- Chicago 50 (Jordan 9), Charlotte 52 (Mourning 13). Assists- Chicago 28 (Kukoc 9), Charlotte 28 (Bogues 10). Total fouls- Chicago 25, Charlotte 24. Technicals-None. A-23,859 (23,698).