Like Magic, Anderson Back and Orlando Gets a Victory

Nick Anderson has been sick. Without him, so has the Orlando Magic.

Back from a bout with flu Wednesday night at Orlando, Anderson proved to be the cure for an ailing offense, scoring 31 points to help the Magic end the Seattle SuperSonics’ five-game winning streak with a 96-83 victory.

“He’s just playing great basketball,” Orlando Coach Chuck Daly said, “and we’re going to ride it as long as we can.”

Anderson carried the Magic offensively during a recent five-game winning streak that included home victories over Indiana and the Lakers.

But he sat out the team’s next two games--both losses. Without him, the Magic struggled to find consistent scoring.

“When a guy is playing the way he’s been playing, it allows you to run your offense through him,” said teammate Derek Harper, who had 16 points. “That’s basically what we’ve done.”

Anderson, averaging just under 28 points in his last six games, made five of six shots during a 32-point third quarter Wednesday that enabled Orlando to break the game open. He finished 13 for 19 and also grabbed eight rebounds.

Seattle, coming off an emotional overtime victory at Miami on Tuesday night, looked like a tired team in shooting 43%.

Kings 109, Pistons 89--Corliss Williamson scored a career-high 40 points at Sacramento, where the Kings ended their seven-game losing streak.

Williamson, who surpassed his previous career high by the end of the third quarter, made 16 of 23 shots and eight of nine free throws. He added five rebounds and five assists.

He became the first King to score 40 points since Mitch Richmond had 41 against the Clippers on Feb. 13, 1997, and only the seventh King to score 40 or more since the team moved to Sacramento.

The Pistons were held without a field goal for the opening 5:56 of the fourth quarter.

Grant Hill scored 22 points to lead the Pistons, who are 8-21 on the road this season and have won once in their last nine road games.

Golden State 90, San Antonio 83--After losing the Latrell Sprewell arbitration case, the Warriors won a different sort of court verdict at Oakland, ending their four-game losing streak.

Jim Jackson led Golden State with a season-high 26 points.

Tim Duncan had a career-high 35 points and David Robinson had 18 for the Spurs, but San Antonio could not overcome a season-high 30 turnovers, leading to 31 Warrior points.

Utah 110, Boston 94--Karl Malone had 32 points and 15 rebounds at Boston, where Utah overcame 36 points and 10 rebounds by the Celtics’ Antoine Walker to beat Boston for the 13th consecutive time.

That is the longest active streak for any Boston opponent.

Utah has won four in a row and 11 of 12 on the road.

The loss ended a three-game winning streak for the Celtics, but Coach Rick Pitino wasn’t around to see it. Pitino was ejected after drawing two technicals while arguing an out-of-bounds call with 4:04 left in the game.

Cleveland 122, Toronto 88--Wesley Person tied a career high with 33 points at Cleveland on a night when his Cavaliers reached a season-high point total.

Person set a club record for a half with six three-point baskets in the first 24 minutes.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 21 points and 17 rebounds, and Brevin Knight had 17 assists as Cleveland won two in a row for the first time in 30 days.

Rookie Derek Anderson had 13 points in 17 minutes in his return after sitting out 15 games because of a knee injury. The Cavaliers were 6-9 without Anderson.

The loss was the Raptors’ ninth in their last 11 games.

Charlotte 112, Minnesota 102--The Hornets’ win at Charlotte increased their winning streak to six and their all-time home record against the Timberwolves to 10-0.

Playing a Minnesota team that lost by 11 at home to Dallas one night earlier and was missing its top scorer, Tom Gugliotta, the Hornets trailed by five points with 8 1/2 minutes left before closing the game with a 28-13 run.

Charlotte’s Glen Rice, who two nights earlier had his franchise-record run of 135 double-figure scoring games ended, scored 22.

Teammate Anthony Mason scored nine of his 21 points in the decisive closing run. He also had seven rebounds and three assists.

Scoring was not the problem for Minnesota, losers for the fifth time in six games. The problem is defense. The Timberwolves have given up at least 100 points in all six games.

Minnesota shot 53%, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Timberwolves from falling to 6-11 since Gugliotta was sidelined because of ankle problems. He underwent season-ending surgery Wednesday.

The Timberwolves, losing their fifth in a row on the road, got 20 points from Stephon Marbury and Anthony Peeler. Kevin Garnett wound up with 19 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.

Philadelphia 87, Milwaukee 80--Joe Smith had his best game since being dealt to the 76ers and teammate Derrick Coleman had 19 points and 10 rebounds at Philadelphia.

Smith scored 15 points on six-of-nine shooting with four rebounds in 26 minutes.

Glenn Robinson had 21 points and eight rebounds and Tyrone Hill grabbed 18 rebounds for the Bucks, who lost their third in a row.