Cavaliers, Brandon Spoil Malone’s Day

Terrell Brandon of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz were in agreement Sunday.

Both insisted that winning is more important than individual accomplishments.

“It’s all about winning to me,” Brandon said, after scoring 12 of his career-high 33 points in the final 1:12 of the Cavaliers’ 100-94 victory at Cleveland. “I don’t pay much attention to my numbers.”

Malone added to his considerable numbers by becoming the 11th player to get 20,000 points and 10,000 rebounds in an NBA career.

He grabbed a missed three-point shot by Danny Ferry 2:09 before halftime for rebound No. 10,000.

“I’ve been fortunate to stay healthy and play 12 years,” Malone said. “To get a standing ovation here was nice, but I think people tend to forget the games mean more than the individual things.

“You think about those things after you’re finished with your career. I’m not finished yet.”

Brandon extended his consecutive free-throw streak to 56 by making all 11 of his attempts.

“That’s an important weapon to have, the ability to hit free throws,” Cavalier Coach Mike Fratello said.

Cleveland made 25 of 27 free throws, Utah 14 of 22.

Bobby Phills had 23 points, Tyrone Hill 18 points and 10 rebounds and Chris Mills 18 points and nine rebounds for Cleveland, which won a season-best fifth in a row.

“We were hyped up because we wanted to show everyone we can play with one of the great teams,” Mills said.

Referees disallowed a dunk by Utah’s Adam Keefe in the first half.

They thought he missed the shot, but replays showed that Keefe rammed the ball through the hoop, before it hit him in the head and bounced back out.

Vancouver 91, Washington 87--Anthony Peeler made two critical three-point tries as the Grizzlies connected on four of five long-range shots to rally for the victory at Vancouver.

Peeler scored eight of his team-high 27 points in the final 12 minutes as the Grizzlies won their sixth of the season and third at home in four games.

Seattle 93, Dallas 79--Gary Payton scored nine of his 31 points in the fourth quarter at Seattle to lead the SuperSonics to their fourth consecutive victory.

Seattle was leading, 72-65, when Payton triggered an 11-2 run with two critical shots. He beat the shot clock with a short shot over two defenders in the lane, and made a three-pointer with 8:41 remaining.

Charlotte 102, Boston 98--Glen Rice scored 25 points and Anthony Mason 19 to lead the Hornets to the victory at Boston.

David Wesley made seven three-point shots and scored 34 points to lead the Celtics, but he committed a turnover with three seconds left and Boston trailing by one point.

Wesley made his seventh three-pointer with 43 seconds left to bring the Celtics to within 99-98, but after his pass was stolen by Tony Smith on Boston’s next possession, Rice made the second of two free throws to put the Hornets ahead, 100-98, with 2.8 seconds left.

Indiana 111, Toronto 92--The Pacers held Damon Stoudamire and the rest of the Raptors to 37% shooting and got 21 points from Reggie Miller at Indianapolis.

Indiana reached the .500 mark for the third time this season by holding Stoudamire, who was averaging 20.4 points, to only eight on four-of-16 shooting.

Toronto lost for the ninth time in 10 road games.