Brown Out of Dumps, Celtics Win

Two days after saying he wanted to be traded, Dee Brown scored 18 points as the Boston Celtics ended a five-game losing streak with a 93-77 victory over Cleveland at Boston Friday night.

Brown, the Celtics’ captain, returned to the starting lineup after playing 15 minutes off the bench and scoring four points in Wednesday night’s 114-110 overtime loss to Portland. He had started the previous six games.

He expressed his dissatisfaction after the game, met with Coach M.L. Carr on Thursday and was back in the starting lineup Friday.

Dino Radja led Boston with 20 points, and Rick Fox had 13 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists in Boston’s first win since Dec. 22. The Cavaliers’ 77 points were the fewest given up by the Celtics, who began the game with a league-worst 109.1 points allowed per game.

Cleveland, which won its previous four games, was led by Terrell Brandon with 22 points.

Orlando 115, Seattle 93--Shaquille O’Neal scored a season-high 38 points as the Magic remained unbeaten at home and stopped the SuperSonics’ seven-game winning streak.

The victory was the seventh in a row for the Magic, which is 18-0 at Orlando Arena and has won a league-high 25 consecutive regular-season games at home.

O’Neal made 16 of 22 shots and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Magic, which improved to 8-1 since the all-star center returned from a thumb injury that sidelined him for the first six weeks of the season.

Milwaukee 113, Portland 96--Vin Baker scored the first 12 points of the second half and finished with a career-high 41 points as the Bucks won at home.

Baker’s third-quarter burst helped Milwaukee take a 69-59 lead with 7:11 remaining in the period. Baker started and finished his scoring run with three-point plays and hit three jump shots in between.

Clifford Robinson, who finished with 29 points, scored 13 in the third quarter to keep the Trail Blazers close.

His three-point basket and two free throws trimmed the Bucks’ lead to 74-70 late in the third. Baker stopped them with his third three-point play of the quarter, and the Trail Blazers never got closer.

Golden State 122, Minnesota 119--Joe Smith made two free throws with eight seconds left in overtime and Rony Seikaly had a season-high 31 points as the Warriors won their fourth in a row.

Golden State’s Latrell Sprewell hit a leaning jumper from just inside the foul line with two seconds remaining in regulation time to send the game into overtime after the Warriors wasted an 11-point fourth-quarter lead.

The Timberwolves finished regulation with a 17-6 run, holding Golden State to two baskets in the final five minutes.

Tom Gugliotta had a season-high 36 points for Minnesota.

Indiana 105, San Antonio 92--Eddie Johnson scored a season-high 26 points and the Pacers built a 31-point first-half lead to win their third straight road game. The Spurs’ three-game winning streak ended as they lost for only the second time in 11 games.

Reggie Miller added 19 points, all in the first quarter, for the Pacers.

Sean Elliott led the Spurs with 28 points. David Robinson, who made just one of 10 field goals in the first half, finished with 14 points and nine rebounds.

New Jersey 107, Dallas 99--Armon Gilliam had 26 points and 11 rebounds as the Nets held off a late charge in sending the Mavericks to their 10th loss in 11 games.

Dallas, which has lost four in a row, began the fourth quarter trailing, 85-76, but used an 11-5 burst that included six points by Tony Dumas and five by Jim Jackson. The Mavericks made it 95-92 on Jackson’s drive with 5:24 to play, but that was as close as they got.

Vancouver 103, Philadelphia 102--Blue Edwards’ fadeaway 20-foot shot at the buzzer in overtime at Vancouver gave the Grizzlies the victory in a game involving the NBA’s two worst teams.

Veteran point guard Scott Skiles announced his retirement from the 76ers before the game.

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NBA Notes

Washington guard Mark Price was activated from the injured list but isn’t expected to play for at least another week. His place on the injured list was taken by guard Calbert Cheaney, who has strained ligaments in his right ankle. The Bullets also waived Bob McCann. . . . Boston activated rookie forward Eric Williams and replaced him on the injured list with center Alton Lister. . . . Atlanta released forward-center Tim Kempton, a five-year NBA veteran signed as a free agent Dec. 14. . . . Miami put Ronnie Grandison on waivers. . . . Detroit waived guard Stephen Bardo and forward-center Rodney Zimmerman, both of whom joined the team as free-agent tryouts in training camp.