NBA ROUNDUP : Orlando Wins First Game at Boston

Shaquille O’Neal’s thunderous dunk in the opening minutes was a bad omen for the Boston Celtics in Friday night’s game against the Orlando Magic at the Boston Garden.

“Any time you dunk over somebody, that’s a move of authority,” Celtic center Robert Parish said. “He showed a lot of authority out there.”

O’Neal’s dunk set the tone as the Magic won its first game ever at Boston Garden, 113-94.

“This was one of our best games of the year,” Orlando Coach Matt Guokas said. “Everybody contributed.”

The Celtics had won seven in a row, and Orlando had lost five of its last six. The Celtics, who had shot 50.4% during their winning streak, shot only 41% against the Magic, which has held opponents to the third-lowest shooting percentage (44.9%) this season.

“Usually you have one guy who’s not playing well, but other guys will make up for it,” Boston’s Reggie Lewis said. “Unfortunately, (Friday night) no one was playing well.”

Scott Skiles led the Magic with 23 points and 15 assists. O’Neal had 22 points and 12 rebounds, and Anthony Bowie 23 points.

The Celtics were led by Parish with 19 points. Lewis and Kevin McHale had 15 apiece.

Phoenix 107, Miami 99--Charles Barkley reached the 15,000-point plateau with 31 points as the Suns opened a 20-point lead in the first quarter and held on to win at Phoenix.

Dan Majerle scored 19 points and Richard Dumas 18 for the Suns, who improved their NBA-best record to 25-6.

Phoenix won its 10th consecutive game at home and improved to 12-0 in its series with Miami, which lost its third in a row.

Former USC star Harold Miner had 23 points for Miami, including 14 in the fourth quarter as the Heat cut into an 88-70 lead. Kevin Edwards scored 17.

Minnesota 99, Denver 89--Chuck Person stopped a 12-game slump with 19 points as the Timberwolves ended a five-game losing streak at Minneapolis, handing the Nuggets’ their 12th consecutive road loss.

Person, averaging 19.9 points in Minnesota’s first 18 games, averaged 13.8 in the next 12 games. He made three of five three-pointers Friday night after missing 19 of his previous 21.

Doug West and Micheal Williams added 17 points each for Minnesota, which won for the first time in two games since interim Coach Sidney Lowe replaced Jimmy Rodgers, who was fired on Sunday. The Timberwolves had lost 17 of their previous 19 games, beating Dallas, the team with worst record in the NBA, twice in that span.

Cleveland 132, Indiana 120--Craig Ehlo scored 16 of his 22 points in the third quarter at Indianapolis as the Cavaliers rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat the Pacers for the seventh consecutive time over the last two seasons.

Brad Daugherty led Cleveland with 25 points, including 18 in the first half, and 10 rebounds as the Cavaliers ended a two-game losing streak. Larry Nance added 24 points and Mark Price 23. John Battle scored 17 points off the bench.

Reggie Miller led Indiana with 29 points, and Detlef Schrempf had 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Chicago 122, Golden State 101--Michael Jordan scored six of his 26 points during a 12-2 run at the start of the fourth quarter as the Bulls won at Chicago.

Chris Mullin led the Warriors with 21 points.

New Jersey 110, Philadelphia 105--Kenny Anderson and Drazen Petrovic helped the Nets rally to beat the 76ers in overtime at East Rutherford, N.J.

Anderson, who finished with 21 points, and Petrovic, who scored 19, each had three baskets in the final 2:22 of regulation and then combined for six points as the Nets started the overtime with a 10-2 run. The victory was New Jersey’s fourth in a row at home.

The loss was the second in six games for the 76ers, who were led by Hersey Hawkins with 35 points. Tim Perry added 18 points and 12 rebounds.

New York 107, Dallas 93--Rolando Blackman scored 18 points in his first appearance at Reunion Arena since the Mavericks traded him to the New York last summer as the Knicks handed the Mavericks their 14th consecutive defeat. Dallas’ losing streak is one short of the club record set in the 1980-81 season, the Mavericks’ first in the NBA.

Blackman, the Mavericks’ leading career scorer after 11 years in Dallas, was traded to New York last June 24 for a first-round pick in the 1995 draft.

John Starks also had 18 points for the Knicks, who had lost six of their previous 10 games to see their Atlantic Division lead trimmed to 1 1/2 games.

Derek Harper led Dallas (2-29) with 28 points in front a crowd of 14,445, the Mavericks’ largest of the season.