Sprewell Gets Off to Bad Start in New York

In his first game at Madison Square Garden as a member of the home team, Latrell Sprewell didn’t put on much of a show.

He scored only five points and threw up a bad shot from three-point range with 10 seconds left, and Patrick Ewing followed by missing a layup as the New York Knicks lost their home opener Sunday, 83-79, to the Miami Heat.

Sprewell missed his first seven shots, finished two of 12 from the field and committed four turnovers while struggling to fit into New York’s offense.

“No jitters, it just wasn’t there,” he said. “Hopefully, I won’t have too many more games like that. It was definitely disappointing.”

Sprewell also didn’t have much success stopping Jamal Mashburn, who led Miami with 23 points. Alonzo Mourning added 16 and Terry Porter 13, including three jumpers with the shot clock running down that allowed Miami to stay ahead for almost the entire fourth quarter.

Tim Hardaway added 11 points and seven assists for the Heat in a rematch of last year’s first-round playoff series, which New York won, 3-2.

New York had a chance in the final seconds, down by three points with the ball.

It went to Sprewell outside the three-point line, and he forced up a double-clutch shot that failed to even hit the rim. The rebound was batted around and ended up with Ewing, who missed a layup. Mashburn was fouled and made one of two free throws to close the scoring.

“I knew the clock was running down and we didn’t have much time,” Sprewell said. “Jamal was pretty much on my shooting hand, so I had to double pump it. It was good defense on his part.”

Detroit 107, Indiana 98--Jerome Williams scored 11 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter to spark a rally and lift the Pistons to victory over the Pacers at Auburn Hills, Mich. Grant Hill scored 26 points and Jerry Stackhouse came off the bench for 20 for the Pistons, who have won their first two games.

With the game tied at 86 with 6:56 left, Williams scored six points in a 7-0 burst that gave Detroit a 93-86 lead with 4:49 remaining. The closest the Pacers got was 95-91.

Reggie Miller led the Pacers with 26 points.

New Jersey 79, Atlanta 69--A night after several Net players were injured and Kendall Gill reportedly fought with the Hawks’ Steve Smith after the game, the Nets exacted some revenge with a victory at East Rutherford, N.J.

Atlanta, which became the first team in more than a decade to play three consecutive nights, won, 111-106, Saturday. Sunday, however, Keith Van Horn scored 24 points, 18 of them in the second half, to lead the Nets. The game was also more low-key, with only 58 fouls called compared to 72 on Saturday. Jayson Williams, who had his nose broken Saturday, had no points but 13 rebounds Sunday for the Nets.

Seattle 91, Portland 88--Gary Payton scored 32 points and Dale Ellis hit two free throws with 2.4 seconds left as the SuperSonics defeated the Trail Blazers at Seattle.

Portland’s Isaiah Rider missed a 20-footer with one second left and the SuperSonics controlled the rebound to defeat the Blazers for the fifth consecutive time and 11th time in their last 13 meetings.

The Blazers actually led, 71-61, going into the fourth quarter, but the SuperSonics rallied behind backup point guard Moochie Norris’ four consecutive three-point baskets.

Phoenix 115, Denver 108--Tom Gugliotta had 29 points and 13 rebounds in his Phoenix homecourt debut and the Suns overcame an 18-point fourth-quarter outburst by former Sun Antonio McDyess for victory.

McDyess, booed heartily by the packed house at America West Arena, scored 10 in the first quarter, left when he hurt his ribs in the second, returned but was ineffective in the third and erupted in the fourth.

Gugliotta, signed by Phoenix when McDyess left, was matched against McDyess much of the night. Gugliotta scored 17 in the first half and sank six consecutive free throws in the final 3:14 to help the Suns pull out the victory.

Sacramento 109, Vancouver 87--Chris Webber had 25 points, 15 rebounds, nine blocked shots and eight assists as the Kings defeated the Grizzlies at Sacramento, ruining the NBA debut of Grizzlies’ point guard Mike Bibby, who was only three of 14 with 11 points and nine assists.

Vlade Divac also narrowly missed a triple-double for the Kings, with 16 rebounds, 10 assists and eight points. Both Webber and Divac sat out the final five minutes as the Kings, with a big lead, cleared the bench.

Dallas 102, Golden State 99--Cedric Ceballos scored seven of his 26 points in the second overtime, including a go-ahead three-point basket, as the Mavericks outlasted the Warriors at Oakland.

Michael Finley had 22 points, including a three-pointer with a defender in his face to tie it at the end of the first overtime. Dirk Nowitzki added 16 points for Dallas, which has gone into overtime in its first two games. Dallas was coming off a 92-86 overtime loss at Seattle on Friday night.