Van Horn Successful in Debut With Nets

Keith Van Horn made his long-awaited NBA debut and sparked the New Jersey Nets to a lopsided 107-88 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night at East Rutherford, N.J.

Van Horn had 11 points in 27 minutes but contributed six points and an assist in an early 26-4 spurt that carried New Jersey to a 107-88 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night.

“I made some bad decisions but that’s because I’ve been out six weeks,” said Van Horn, who missed the first 17 games of the season because of a sprained right ankle. “I think it will be another 10 to 14 days before I’m 100%.”

Kendall Gill had 10 of his 24 points in the early run that helped the Nets take a 40-16 lead after the first quarter.

Miami 117, Boston 97--The Heat outran the NBA’s most high-octane team, shooting 51% at Miami to hand the Celtics their fifth straight loss. Mark Strickland had a career-high 20 points in 16 minutes, all in the second half, and Jamal Mashburn and Tim Hardaway scored 18 points each for the Heat, who had six players in double figures.

Minnesota 101, Sacramento 90--Stephon Marbury scored 22 points as the Timberwolves extended the Kings’ losing streak to six games at Minneapolis.

Kevin Garnett and Tom Gugliotta each recorded double-doubles as the Timberwolves won at home for just the fourth time in nine tries this season.

Seattle 94, Detroit 89--Vin Baker had 31 points and Gary Payton narrowly missed a triple-double as the SuperSonics defeated the Pistons at Auburn Hills, Mich.

Portland 94, Utah 77--Brian Grant scored 15 points and rookie Kevin Cato had eight blocked shots at Portland, Ore., to help the Trail Blazers snap Utah’s six-game winning streak.

The Blazers had six players score in double figures.

Phoenix 110, Toronto 91--Antonio McDyess scored nine of his 19 points in the third quarter as Phoenix survived a scare and dealt Toronto its 15th consecutive loss.

John Wallace had 20 points and Damon Stoudamire 15 for Toronto, now 1-17 overall and winless in 10 road games this season.

Indiana 96, Denver 85--Rik Smits scored 24 points and Reggie Miller had 19 at Denver as Indiana posted its fifth consecutive victory.

Cleveland 107, Vancouver 98--Wesley Person scored 30 points and made seven three-pointers at Vancouver as the Cavaliers won its seventh consecutive game.

Golden State 104, Orlando 89--The Warriors won for the first time in the post-Latrell Sprewell era and earned its first home victory of the season at Oakland.