Broken Leg Sidelines Van Horn

New Jersey Net forward Keith Van Horn is expected to be sidelined at least four weeks after breaking his left leg during Tuesday night’s exhibition game at Orlando, Fla.

Van Horn suffered the injury with five minutes left in the second quarter when he came down awkwardly fighting for a rebound, rolled his ankle and fell to the floor while grabbing at his left calf. He was carried from the court.

Van Horn averaged 19.2 points and 8.4 rebounds last season.

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Forward Karl Malone left Utah’s exhibition game against Cleveland after spraining his left knee.

Malone was involved in a pileup that started when the Cavaliers’ Lamond Murray drove the lane. John Starks and Donyell Marshall of the Jazz converged, and Malone fell back from the cluster of bodies. It is not known how long he will be out.

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Atlanta Hawk center Dikembe Mutombo has a mild case of malaria, and is expected to be sidelined about two weeks.

“It’s not life threatening, it’s not career threatening,” Hawk General Manager Pete Babcock said in Atlanta. “It sounds terrible, but it’s really like a bad case of the flu.”

Mutombo was hospitalized with a fever Monday in Springfield, Mass., where the Hawks played in the NBA Hall of Fame exhibition game.

The Hawks don’t know when Mutombo will return.

Doctors believe Mutombo contracted the disease when he was bitten by a mosquito during a September trip to the Congo.

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The Detroit Pistons completed another trade, their fourth since the end of last season, sending forward Loy Vaught to the Dallas Mavericks for guard Dana Barros and forward Ansu Sesay.

Vaught, 32, was used sparingly in two season as a Piston. His best years were as a Clipper when he was consistently among the league leaders in rebounding.

Barros, 33, sidelined by a bulging disk in his back, is not expected to be ready to play for at least a month. Sesay is expected to be waived by the Pistons.

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After losing all-star center Alonzo Mourning for the season because of a kidney disorder, Miami Heat Coach Pat Riley said he will probably open the season with Duane Causwell as the starter.

Riley, however, said he will not hesitate to use Brian Grant in the middle, flanked by forwards Anthony Mason and Dan Majerle and guards Eddie Jones and Tim Hardaway.

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Sam Perkins, 39, who almost retired in the off-season, will probably start at center for the Indiana Pacers after the retirement of Rik Smits.

Others available to play center include veterans Zan Tabak and Terry Mills and Bruno Sundov, 20.

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The Minnesota Timberwolves signed former University of Minnesota guard Sam Jacobson. Jacobson is also a former Laker. . . . The Boston Celtics waived former Pennsylvania guard Michael Jordan. . . . The other Michael Jordan attended his first basketball game at Chicago’s United Center since retiring in 1998 when his Washington Wizards played the Bulls on Tuesday night.