NBA ROUNDUP : Big Crowd, Big Win for Raptors

A crowd of 25,820 came to the Toronto SkyDome on Sunday to see a blowout.

What most of them didn’t expect was for the Raptors to be on the winning side.

Led by rookie guard Damon Stoudamire, one of six Raptors to score in double figures, Toronto handed the Orlando Magic its worst loss of the season, 110-93, in front of the second-largest crowd of the year.

“We haven’t had any problems getting up for the Houstons, Indianas and Bostons,” said Stoudamire, who had 21 points and 10 assists. “Now we have to put the same kind of effort on the floor against the Atlantas and the Clevelands.”

Shaquille O’Neal, making his first start of the season and second appearance after injuring his hand in an exhibition game, didn’t seem to miss a beat with 32 points and 11 rebounds.

“They just played harder than we did,” said O’Neal, who played 35 minutes. “We can’t take anybody lightly. We’ll have to learn from our mistakes and get ready for the next game.”

“They beat us in every phase of the game,” Orlando Coach Brian Hill said. “Offensive execution, defensive intensity, and they got to the line more. They were the better team tonight, by far.”

Tracy Murray and Willie Anderson scored 16 points each off the bench for the Raptors.

Philadelphia 101, Minnesota 99--Winless on the road since last season, the 76ers got an offensive boost from recent acquisition Scott Skiles at Minneapolis.

The 76ers had lost 11 in a row on the road dating to their victory April 15 at New Jersey.

Philadelphia’s Vernon Maxwell scored 30 points over the first three quarters, but when he struggled, Skiles took up the slack.

Skiles, signed as an unrestricted free agent Dec. 12, scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter.

Clarence Weatherspoon had 22 points for Philadelphia. Laettner led Minnesota with 23 points.

Washington 112, Portland 100--Calbert Cheaney scored 18 of his season-high 25 points in the first half to lead the Bullets at Portland.

The victory gave the Bullets an 11-10 record and put them over .500 after 20 or more games for the first time since the 1989-90 season.

Chris Webber and Juwan Howard scored 19 points each for Washington. Georghe Muresan had 18 points and 17 rebounds.

Clifford Robinson had 24 points and Arvydas Sabonis 20 for the Trail Blazers.

Cleveland 92, Denver 79--Terrell Brandon scored 14 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, and Dan Majerle also scored 20 as the Cavaliers defeated the short-handed Nuggets at Cleveland.

The Cavaliers won their third game in a row and evened their record at 11-11. They have gone 11-4 since an 0-7 start.

The Nuggets had only eight players available. Among the four who did not dress was leading scorer Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, who sprained his ankle in Denver’s loss in Atlanta on Saturday night.

Don MacLean led Denver with 26 points, and Dikembe Mutombo had 14 rebounds.

Milwaukee 84, Indiana 80--Lee Mayberry scored 16 points and Terry Cummings added 15 at Milwaukee as the Bucks ended a three-game losing streak.

Reggie Miller had 17 points for Indiana, which had a four-game winning streak ended.