NBA ROUNDUP : Magic Wins Expansion Matchup

The experience of Reggie Theus helped the Orlando Magic beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 103-96, Thursday night at Orlando as the NBA’s two newest teams met for the first time.

Theus, in his 11th year in the NBA, scored seven consecutive points during a 14-point, third-period run and hit 11 free throws in the final quarter, six in the closing seconds.

The Magic (7-7) led, 61-59, in the third quarter when it broke the game open with 14 consecutive points.

Terry Catledge led Orlando with 25 points, Theus added 24 and Sam Vincent 22. Minnesota (3-12) was paced by Tyrone Corbin with 25.

Denver 103, Milwaukee 102--Todd Lichti stole Fred Roberts’ inbounds pass with just under two seconds left to play, and the Nuggets won for the 27th time in their last 28 home games.

After Jay Humphries’ layup for Milwaukee with just four seconds left made it 103-102, Alvin Robertson quickly fouled the Nuggets’ Michael Adams, who missed both free throws.

The Bucks got the rebound and called time out, but the steal by Lichti, a former Stanford star, killed the rally.

Denver (10-4) led, 101-94, with 2:02 left, but the Bucks fought back on a free throw by Ricky Pierce and a three-pointer by Jack Sikma.

Walter Davis led the Nuggets with 24 points. Humphries had 25 points, six assists and three steals for Milwaukee (7-7).

Seattle 127, New York 122--Xavier McDaniel scored 37 points, including 20 in the fourth quarter, to lead the SuperSonics at Seattle.

Seattle trailed, 102-98, but scored nine consecutive points to take a five-point lead with 6:59 left in the game. McDaniel’s dunk put Seattle ahead to stay at 103-102 with 8:21 remaining.

New York closed to 111-109 on Trent Tucker’s three-point basket, but McDaniel scored four points and Derrick McKey made two free throws, increasing the lead to eight points. The Knicks never came closer than six the rest of the way.

Johnny Newman scored 30 for the Knicks, including 14 in the third quarter. Patrick Ewing added 27. McKey scored 25 points for Seattle.

Houston 113, Charlotte 101--Mitchell Wiggins scored 10 of his game-high 24 points in the third quarter after the ejection of Akeem Olajuwon at Houston.

Olajuwon and Charlotte rookie J.R. Reid were kicked out for fighting at 4:44 of the third quarter when they collided during a scramble for a rebound. The centers exchanged punches.

Olajuwon had hit all five of his shots in the third quarter and finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Houston was ahead, 68-51, when Olajuwon and Reid were ejected.

Reid had 14 points and seven rebounds.

Wiggins and Otis Thorpe took up the slack as Houston (9-6) extended its lead to 89-66 on Thorpe’s three-point play with 8:45 left. Charlotte is 3-11.

Kelly Tripucka, who led the Hornets with 22 points, scored 12 of them in the final quarter, but Charlotte couldn’t cut the lead below 10.

Thorpe finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds, and Buck Johnson added 16 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.

San Antonio 93, Dallas 89--Terry Cummings scored 20 points, including a turnaround jump shot with 47 seconds remaining, to lead the Spurs at San Antonio.

Rookie David Robinson had 15 points and 17 rebounds for the Spurs, who turned back a Dallas rally after leading by as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter.