Sprewell Avoids P.J., but Not Boos

The anger and bitterness from Latrell Sprewell’s last meeting with P.J. Carlesimo surfaced again two years later. And Sprewell wouldn’t meet his former coach halfway.

Carlesimo had expressed hopes of shaking hands with Sprewell during pregame introductions at Oakland, but Sprewell stayed by the New York basket and the Golden State coach was left standing by himself at midcourt, before finally returning to the bench.

Sprewell took the game’s first shot and missed badly, with one fan yelling “Nice shot, Spree!” Fans booed each time Sprewell touched the ball.

Sprewell scored 14 points in the Knicks’ 86-79 victory. He was replaced with less than a minute to play after he and Chris Mills got technicals for shoving each other.

Before the game, Sprewell was greeted by cheers, applause and chants of “Spree!, Spree!” upon taking the floor for warmups. But he ignored a child who sought his autograph by dangling his old Golden State Warriors jersey over a railing.

Then, he got in a brief shouting match with a heckler who came to courtside and yelled, “Spree, who are you going to sue now?”

Sprewell, facing Carlesimo for the first time since choking the Warrior coach in a fit rage at a team practice, stopped taking practice shots for a moment, turned toward the heckler and told the fan to shut up and used an expletive.

“I don’t think it’s ever going to be over,” Carlesimo said before the game. “I think it is another step toward putting it in the background. But no, I don’t think it is ever going to be over for Spree and myself. I think with each successive game it will be less and less of a story. At least I hope so.”

Denver 95, Chicago 86--Antonio McDyess scored 21 points and Coach Dan Issel won his 100th game as the Nuggets kept the Bulls winless on the road this season.

Ron Mercer added 19 points, including 14 in the second half, as the Nuggets ended a five-game losing streak to Chicago. Issel is 100-107 in four years as the Nugget coach.

Chris Anstey had 18 points and Kornel David added 17 off the bench for the Bulls, who are 0-5 on the road. Chicago’s last loss to Denver came on Feb. 4, 1996.

San Antonio 106, Dallas 90--Reserve Jaren Jackson made seven three-point baskets and led a second-quarter spurt that sent the Spurs over the Mavericks at San Antonio.

Jackson finished with 23 points as the Spurs won their 18th consecutive regular-season home game over two seasons.

Tim Duncan had 17 rebounds for the Spurs. Michael Finley scored 19 points for Dallas.

Portland 100, Charlotte 96--Reserve guard Greg Anthony scored 24 points, including six free throws in the final 25 seconds of overtime, as the Trail Blazers won at Charlotte for their sixth consecutive victory.

Rasheed Wallace added 17 points for the Trail Blazers. Steve Smith, Detlef Schrempf and Brian Grant scored 12 for Portland.

Elden Campbell had 24 points and 11 rebounds for Charlotte, which suffered its first home loss after five victories. Eddie Jones added 22 points for the Hornets.

Philadelphia 100, New Jersey 96--Allen Iverson scored 37 points and made a key late steal at East Rutherford, N.J., to lead the John Calipari-coached 76ers to a victory over the team that fired him in March.

The loss was the sixth consecutive and ninth in 10 games for the Nets, who are off to their worst start in franchise history. It was made even more embarrassing with Calipari taking over after Coach Larry Brown was ejected for picking up two technical fouls with 1:29 left in the first quarter.

Utah 111, Milwaukee 100--Karl Malone had 40 points and Bryon Russell added 19 off the bench as the Jazz defeated the Bucks at Milwaukee.

The Jazz handed Milwaukee its first home loss of the season by outrunning and outshooting the young Bucks, who couldn’t defend Utah’s potent attack and never got their league-leading offense untracked.

Orlando 107, Atlanta 103--Darrell Armstrong made two three-point baskets in the final three minutes and added two clinching free throws with 3.3 seconds left to give the Magic a victory over the Hawks at Atlanta, ending the Magic’s four-game losing streak.

The Magic got a boost from a 9-0 run in the final three minutes of the third quarter. The Hawks, who had a two-game winning streak snapped, tied the game four times in the final six minutes but were unable to take the lead.

Miami 110, Boston 92--Jamal Mashburn scored 23 points and Alonzo Mourning added 22 to lead the Heat over the Celtics at Miami.

The victory gave Miami an 8-2 mark, the best record after 10 games in franchise history. It also ended a three-game losing streak against the Celtics.

Antoine Walker led Boston with 18 points.

Indiana 107, Cleveland 98--Dale Davis scored all 12 of his points in the second half and Rik Smits added 18 to lead the Pacers to a victory over the Cavaliers at Cleveland.

Davis made all six of his shots in the third quarter when the Pacers outscored the Cavalier, 31-16, to overturn a six-point halftime deficit and take control.

Seattle 110, Houston 107--Vernon Maxwell scored 15 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, including a three-point play with 50 seconds left, as the SuperSonics rallied for a victory over the Rockets at Houston.

Maxwell drove the lane, scored on a short hook over Hakeem Olajuwon and was fouled. He made the free throw for a 104-100 lead. Olajuwon countered with a basket, then Maxwell drilled a three-point shot for a 107-102 lead with 22 seconds left.

Olajuwon became the first player in NBA history to have 2,000 blocked shots and 2,000 steals after his steal from Maxwell in the second period gave him 2,000.