Armstrong Steals a Last-Second Victory for Magic Over 76ers

Darrell Armstrong stole an inbounds pass with 3.3 seconds remaining and dribbled half the length of the court for a layup that gave the Orlando Magic a 74-73 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night at Orlando, Fla.

George Lynch, who had 20 rebounds and scored eight fourth-quarter points to put the 76ers in position to win, turned the ball over after Theo Ratliff had blocked a layup by Ike Austin that could have put Orlando ahead.

“I knew better and should have called a 20-second [timeout] . . . I saw that no one was really open,” Lynch said. “It was tight. I just tried to force it in there. It cost us the game.”

Nick Anderson scored 15 points, Armstrong had 14 and Penny Hardaway finished with 11 as the Magic improved to 11-1 at home despite shooting only 28% from the field.

Matt Geiger led Philadelphia with 18 points. Ratliff had 17 points, nine rebounds and five blocks, while Allen Iverson was held to 14--half his NBA-leading average--on five-for-21 shooting.

Utah 90, Minnesota 83--The Jazz recovered after blowing a 19-point lead and defeated the Timberwolves at Minneapolis.

Karl Malone had 17 points and a season-high 13 rebounds for the Jazz, who have won five consecutive games and nine of 11.

Terrell Brandon, playing his second game for Minnesota since being acquired from Milwaukee last Thursday in the three-team, nine-player deal that sent Stephon Marbury to New Jersey, had six assists and scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half to spark Minnesota’s comeback.

Joe Smith had 26 points and a season-high 17 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who have lost three of four since the Marbury trade.

Cleveland 89, Chicago 85--Cedric Henderson converted a key three-point play in overtime and the Cavaliers earned their first victory at Chicago since 1994.

Henderson, capping a season-high 22-point effort, stole the ball from Toni Kukoc, drove for the layup and was fouled by Ron Harper to give the Cavaliers an 86-80 lead with 1:04 left.

The Bulls missed their first seven shots of overtime and had four quick turnovers.

Wesley Person scored a season-high 21 points for Cleveland and Brevin Knight had 16 assists. Shawn Kemp scored 17 points to go with 11 rebounds before fouling out in overtime.

New York 108, Milwaukee 102--Latrell Sprewell scored a season-high 28 points, Allan Houston had 22 and Larry Johnson 21 for the Knicks at Milwaukee.

Milwaukee, which has lost three consecutive games since its blockbuster three-team trade last week, was led by Ray Allen with 29 points.

Portland 106, Dallas 91--Isaiah Rider scored a season-high 30 points, 23 in the first half, to lead the streaking Trail Blazers at Dallas.

Damon Stoudamire added 18 points, Arvydas Sabonis had 15 points and 16 rebounds, and Brian Grant 10 points for Portland, which has won 10 of its last 11.

Denver 110, Vancouver 84--Antonio McDyess scored 21 points at Denver and the Nuggets came back from their worst offensive performance of the season to deal the Grizzlies their 12th consecutive loss.

The victory, ending a seven-game losing streak, came two days after the Nuggets set a franchise low with 61 points at San Antonio.

Toronto 89, Charlotte 82--Doug Christie had 18 points for the Raptors at Toronto.

Dee Brown had three three-point baskets and made three key free throws with 1:36 left that gave the Raptors an 83-81 lead.

Sacramento 111, Golden State 105--Chris Webber had 20 points and six other Kings scored in double figures at Oakland.

Tariq Abdul-Wahad had 18 points and Corliss Williamson and Vlade Divac each scored 16 for the Kings.

Bimbo Coles scored a season-high 23 points for the Warriors.

NBA Notes

The NBA fined the Milwaukee Bucks $25,000 for comments Coach George Karl made about the Seattle SuperSonics, his former employer.

Karl’s comments about SuperSonic General Manager Wally Walker appeared in the March 10 edition of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer after a conversation with a reporter.