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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Magic Trounce Lakers As Shaq Skips Return

Around the NBA

The only thing that would have made the day sweeter for the Orlando Magic and their fans would have been if Shaquille O’Neal had been in the house.

The Los Angeles Lakers center, sidelined since Feb. 12 with a knee injury, was in town to visit family and friends but was a no-show at Orlando Arena where his new team was embarrassed by his old club 110-84 Sunday.

Penny Hardaway and Nick Anderson paced the Magic with 21 points apiece. The Lakers missed 20 of 24 shots in the quarter and fell behind by 17 points. They never got back into contention.

O’Neal, who still has a home in Orlando, drove to the arena a little less than an hour before game time to drop some friends off at a rear entrance. He rode away and did not return.

His absence deprived a sellout crowd of 17,248 a long-awaited opportunity to boo the all-star center for leaving Orlando last summer for a $120 million contract with the Lakers.

O’Neal hasn’t been traveling with the team while on the injured list, but his arrival in Orlando on Thursday rekindled hope among fans that he would show up for the game.

The loudest ovation during pregame warmups was for Rony Seikaly, obtained in an early-season trade as a replacement for O’Neal. The Magic center finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Horace Grant had 16 points and 16 rebounds.

Malik Sealy scored a season-high 30 points as the Los Angeles Clippers completed a four-game season sweep of the injury-ravaged San Antonio Spurs with a 106-91 victory.

Rodney Rogers added 17 points and seven rebounds for the Clippers, who have won the last five meetings with the Spurs after losing the previous 10.

Los Angeles’ season sweep was its first from San Antonio since the Spurs moved from the ABA to the NBA for the 1976-77 campaign.

Karl Malone scored 35 points on 14-for-17 shooting and the Utah Jazz shot 65 percent to whip the Denver Nuggets 120-103 for their seventh straight victory.

John Stockton hit 9 of 14 and added 22 points and 15 assists, and Antoine Carr came off the bench to hit all seven of his shots for 14 points. Jeff Hornacek also had 14.

The Jazz, who boast the best record in the Western Conference (52-17) and who are 19-3 since the All-Star break, shot 65 percent in the second quarter, 77 percent in the third and 75 percent in the fourth.

Alonzo Mourning returned from his injury a little earlier than expected and his skills seemed to be just as sharp as they were when he got hurt.

After missing 13 consecutive games with a foot injury, Mourning was his old self, scoring 21 points and grabbing eight rebounds in the Miami Heat’s 113-108 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.