NBA ROUNDUP : Magic Cools Off Heat, 104-99

If the Orlando Magic was looking for a way to impress Florida fans, the expansion club couldn’t have done much better than it did Tuesday night at Orlando.

The Magic christened its rivalry with Florida’s other NBA team by defeating the Miami Heat, 104-99.

What’s more, the victory gave the Magic a chance to finish November with a .500 record, unheard of for a new club.

Ever the realist, however, Orlando Coach Matt Guokas said: “It’s the end of the first month’s games and, although we’re pleased with what we have accomplished, we can’t pat ourselves on the back because we have a long way to go.” Of the victory, he said: “It wasn’t pretty on either team’s part, but both teams played extremely hard, maybe so hard that nothing came smoothly.”

Rookie Nick Anderson scored a career-high 24 points and keyed a fourth-quarter burst that brought Orlando (6-7) from behind. The Magic’s last game this month is Thursday night at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the NBA’s other first-year club.

Anderson, the Magic’s first-round pick in the college draft, led an 18-5 run that turned a five-point deficit into a 94-86 lead with 5:09 remaining. Anderson scored nine points in the spurt and Sidney Green made two jump shots to hold off Miami in the last three minutes.

Miami, which has tried to downplay what Pat Williams, the Magic’s general manager, has promoted as an budding rivalry, lost its fourth consecutive game.

Terry Catledge led the Magic with 26 points after missing three games because of a sprained left thumb. Reggie Theus added 13 points for the Magic and Green had 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Cleveland 92, Washington 91--Randolph Keys sank a short half-hook shot with three seconds left at Richfield, Ohio, capping Cleveland’s rally from a 16-point third-quarter deficit and ending a two-game losing streak.

The loss was the Bullets’ seventh straight on the road.

The Cavaliers’ injury-riddled starting lineup made only one of 15 shots in the first half as Washington built a 49-37 halftime lead.

The Bullets led, 53-37, early in the second half, 53-37, but Cleveland trailed by only seven after three quarters and scored the first 12 points of the fourth quarter for a five-point lead. Neither team led by more than five thereafter.

Washington led, 91-88, on a pair of free throws by John Williams with 1:01 to play. But the Cavaliers’ John (Hot Rod) Williams sank two free throws with 43 seconds left and Kerr got the ball back for the Cavaliers with six seconds to play. He called a timeout as he fell out of bounds while grabbing the rebound of a missed Washington shot. Keys then made the winning shot from the left baseline while surrounded by defenders.

Bernard King’s three-point shot for Washington at the buzzer hit the rim.

Detroit 93, Sacramento 81--Joe Dumars scored 12 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, 10 on free throws, in leading the Pistons at Sacramento.

Isiah Thomas added 14 points as seven Pistons scored in double figures. Danny Ainge topped Sacramento with 20 points and Rodney McCray had 15.

San Antonio 117, Seattle 104--Terry Cummings scored 32 points for the Spurs and Willie Anderson had 11 of his 24 in the fourth quarter at San Antonio.

The Spurs led, 100-93, with 6:58 left, then pulled away with an 11-4 run that included technical fouls on Seattle Coach Bernie Bickerstaff and assistant Tom Newell.

Dale Ellis scored 37 and Nate McMillian added 14 assists, 12 points and 11 rebounds for Seattle.

Chicago 113, Atlanta 98--Michael Jordan scored only 22 points but he had eight assists as the hot-shooting Bulls won easily at Chicago.

Shooting 55% in the third quarter, after a 61% second, the Bulls twice built 21-point leads, the second on Horace Grant’s layup. The closest the Hawks got thereafter was when John Battle sank a 14-foot jump shot that cut the deficit to 70-58.

Denver 141, Golden State 120--Walter Davis came off the Denver bench and scored 26 points, Fat Lever added 24 and Michael Adams 22 as the Nuggets rallied from a 16-point first-period deficit at Denver.

The Nuggets led at halftime, 75-72, then broke the game open with third-period runs of 13-2 to begin the quarter and 15-0 late in the quarter.