Celtics Put Last Season Behind Them

It may not be worthy of another banner in the rafters, but the Celtics reached a milestone of sorts Friday night at Boston.

With their 93-89 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Celtics earned their 15th win of the year--matching their win total for all of last season.

“We are never going to use last season as a measuring stick. Last season, it was more important to get the lottery pick than to win games,” Coach Rick Pitino said. “But it’s a terrific start, and we’re very excited.”

Boston’s 15th victory last season did not come until the penultimate game, on April 18. But Pitino, who with 14 losses has already lost as many games as he did in his worst season at three different colleges, was given $50 million this summer to turn the team around.

And he’s done it faster than anyone expected.

“Right now, we can’t even think of last year,” said Antoine Walker, who had 27 points and 18 rebounds and stole an inbounds pass with 18 seconds left to preserve the victory. “We’re in the hunt. It’s nice to win 15 games and equal last year’s total. But we just have to stay over .500.”

Sam Mitchell, who started in place of flu-ridden Tom Gugliotta, scored 21 points to lead Minnesota. The Timberwolves were going for a franchise-record fifth consecutive win, but they turned the ball over 19 times against the Celtic press.

Boston, which has won six consecutive home games, fell behind, 15-0, and didn’t score in the game’s first six minutes, missing its first 13 shots before Travis Knight’s layup midway through the first quarter.

The Celtics put together a 17-4 run to tie the score, 23-23, before the first quarter was over.

Chicago 114, Milwaukee 100--Michael Jordan scored 44 points--breaking 40 for the third time in four games--and the Bulls survived a 42-point game from Glenn Robinson at Chicago.

Luc Longley added a career-high 24 points, and Dennis Rodman energized the crowd with two late three-point baskets to go with 21 rebounds, as the Bulls had their highest-scoring game this season and won for the 12th straight time at home.

Terrell Brandon had 24 points and 13 assists--a stark contrast from his four-point, one-assist performance of Dec. 5, when Milwaukee had a franchise-low 62 points against Chicago--but still couldn’t keep the Bucks from losing to the Bulls for the 10th straight time.

San Antonio 85, Portland 69--Jaren Jackson scored a career-high 21 points and David Robinson had 22 at San Antonio as the Spurs held the Trail Blazers to the lowest point total in franchise history.

San Antonio’s victory ended the Trail Blazers’ four-game winning streak. Portland finished one point shy of the old franchise record of 70 set Nov. 13, 1996, against Cleveland and matched Dec. 1, 1996, against Golden State.

Four of Jackson’s baskets were three-pointers, and he held Isaiah Rider to one-for-10 shooting.

Detroit 91, Toronto 88--Brian Williams had 26 points and 13 rebounds and Joe Dumars made five three-point baskets and scored 23 points for the Pistons at Toronto.

Jerry Stackhouse added 20 points and seven assists, while Grant Hill finished with 11 points and 10 assists and five rebounds.

Doug Christie led the Raptors with 23 points, but just four came in the second half. Shawn Respert gave the Raptors a spark off the bench, scoring 16 points, and Damon Stoudamire had 11 points and 16 assists.

New Jersey 103, New York 98--Keith Van Horn scored 16 of his 29 points in a fourth-quarter show that co-starred Sherman Douglas in leading the Nets at East Rutherford, N.J.

Van Horn, who sat out most of the third quarter with four fouls, and Douglas combined to score 25 of the Nets’ 31 points in the final quarter.

The Nets trailed by seven points early in the final quarter before Van Horn scored 12 points in a 21-5 spurt.

Charlotte 99, Miami 88--Glen Rice tormented his former team with a season-high 42 points, including a pair of buzzer-beaters, to lift the Hornets in overtime at Charlotte, N.C.

Rice, acquired in the 1995 trade that shipped Alonzo Mourning to Miami, made 14 of 23 field-goal attempts, including four of five from three-point range. His three-pointer at the horn sent the game into overtime, and his 21-footer as the shot clock expired put the Hornets ahead to stay midway through the extra period.

Rice, breaking the 40-point mark for the eighth time as a Hornet, helped Charlotte improve to 19-11, the franchise’s best start ever.

Indiana 99, Washington 81--The Wizards lost for the first time at their new arena as Rik Smits scored 22 points and Reggie Miller had 16 for the Pacers.

Chris Webber had 21 points and Juwan Howard 19 for Washington, which had won eight straight home games since the $200-million arena opened Dec. 2.

Washington Coach Bernie Bickerstaff was deprived of his 300th victory and the Wizards slipped a game under .500.

Indiana shot 57% in the first half and took control of the game with a 16-3 run midway through the second quarter. Smits had four of his 11 first-half points during the barrage and his turnaround jumper ended the spree, giving the Pacers a 47-29 lead with 4:12 left in the period.

Cleveland 81, Orlando 71--Wesley Person’s three-point basket began a game-ending 12-3 run that carried the Cavaliers at Orlando, Fla.

Person gave the Cavaliers, who broke a two-game losing streak, a 72-68 lead. Danny Ferry’s three-point basket gave Cleveland breathing room again after Orlando pulled within three with just under four minutes to go.

Shawn Kemp led Cleveland, which shot only 38%, with 17 points. Ferry had 13 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Horace Grant had 17 points and nine rebounds for Orlando, which played most of the second half without Rony Seikaly, who injured his right foot in the third quarter and didn’t return.

Phoenix 92, Dallas 85--Jason Kidd had a triple-double and Rex Chapman broke an 81-81 tie with a three-point basket at Phoenix as the Suns sent the Mavericks to their 14th consecutive loss.

Kidd, who finished with 20 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds, had a defensive rebound after Michael Finley missed a 14-foot jumper with 44 seconds remaining.

The Suns called timeout, and a layup by Steve Nash off an assist from Cedric Ceballos gave Phoenix an 88-85 lead with 27 seconds remaining.

Kidd sealed the win with four free throws in the final 17 seconds as Dallas missed its last six shots.

Seattle 90, Philadelphia 73--Gary Payton scored 15 points and had nine assists at Seattle as the SuperSonics beat the 76ers for the 11th straight time.

One night after scoring a season-high 115 points against the Vancouver Grizzlies, the 76ers managed only 47 points through three quarters against Seattle.

Allen Iverson, Philadelphia’s leading scorer, left the game in the third quarter after being hit in the mouth by an elbow from teammate Theo Ratliff. He finished with six points.

Houston 116, Denver 115--Kevin Willis scored six of his season-high 33 points in overtime and grabbed 19 rebounds at Denver as the Rockets barely dealt the Nuggets their 12th straight loss.

Clyde Drexler added 21 points, Charles Barkley had 21 points and 13 rebounds and Mario Elie sank a free throw with 1.6 seconds left to break the final tie.

LaPhonso Ellis led Denver with 26 points. Four Nuggets reached 20 points, including Harold Ellis with a season-high 22, Eric Washington with 21 and Bobby Jackson with 20.

Sacramento 94, Vancouver 80--Mitch Richmond scored 23 points and the Kings received a huge boost from their bench at Sacramento.

Playing without forwards Corliss Williamson, Michael Smith and Lawrence Funderburke, the Kings turned to reserves and defense to overcome Shareef Abdur-Rahim’s game-high 30 points.

With bench players scoring 22 of the team’s 23 points, the Kings took control in the second quarter by limiting the Grizzlies to four field goals and 10 points--a season-low for one quarter--to go into halftime with a 52-33 lead.

King center Olden Polynice came off the bench to finish with 15 points and a team-high 12 rebounds.