Magic Wins, O’Neal Vanishes

Shaquille O’Neal returned from his All-Star MVP snub with a vengeance, then came up with a snub of his own at Orlando.

The Orlando Magic center vented his frustration with 30 points and 12 rebounds in Tuesday night’s 121-93 rout of the Denver Nuggets, then left without speaking to reporters. O’Neal had the best All-Star performance of his four-year career in San Antonio on Sunday and was upset that it was Michael Jordan who received the MVP trophy. His teammates acknowledged that O’Neal still feels slighted.

“I was sitting right there. I felt what he felt,” guard Nick Anderson said. “I felt like he got robbed.”

Orlando improved to 26-0 at home, pulling within one victory of the NBA record for consecutive home wins at the start of a season. Washington won its first 27 games during the 1946-47 season.

New Jersey 101, Indiana 92--The Nets snapped Indiana’s 17-game home winning streak, using an 11-0 run midway through the fourth quarter. The Pacers hadn’t lost at home since Nov. 24.

Armon Gilliam scored 17 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter for the Nets.

Reggie Miller led Indiana with 29 points but left the game with 4:07 left after spraining his right ankle.

Cleveland 110, Charlotte 100--Danny Ferry scored a career-high 31 points, including a team-record eight three-point baskets at Cleveland, to lead the Cavaliers to their fifth consecutive victory.

Ferry was eight of 10 from beyond the arc and only three of 10 inside it.

Dell Curry led Charlotte with 25 points.

Chicago 111, Washington 98--Michael Jordan scored 32 points and Scottie Pippen 26 at Chicago as the Bulls rolled to their 30th consecutive regular-season home victory.

Dennis Rodman grabbed 16 rebounds for the Bulls, who are 23-0 at home this season and an NBA-best 43-5 overall. The NBA record for consecutive home victories is 38 by the Boston Celtics in the 1985-86 and 1986-87 seasons.

Juwan Howard led Washington with 28 points and nine rebounds.

Utah 114, San Antonio 111--John Stockton’s leaning three-point shot with five-tenths of a second left in overtime won the game at San Antonio. It was Utah’s only lead of the overtime period.

Houston 121, Dallas 106--Clyde Drexler got his third triple-double in seven games and Sam Cassell scored 31 points off the bench at Houston.

Drexler had 21 points, 12 assists and 14 rebounds and the Rockets put down Dallas’ only challenge in the third quarter when Hakeem Olajuwon was on the bench with four fouls. It was Drexler’s 21st career triple-double.

Golden State 99, Portland 98--Latrell Sprewell had a basket, a steal and two free throws in the final 38 seconds at Portland and the Warriors scored the game’s final six points to stun the Trail Blazers.

Seattle 102, Phoenix 98--Hersey Hawkins scored 21 points and made three free throws in the hectic final 11.6 seconds as the SuperSonics took advantage of cold shooting by the Suns.

Phoenix tied franchise lows with three field goals in the third quarter and nine in the second half. But Charles Barkley still managed to get 30 points and 12 rebounds.

Toronto 98, Miami 87--Damon Stoudamire scored 29 points at Miami, including five at once after he was fouled on a three-point attempt and Bimbo Coles was slapped with two technicals, to lead the Raptors to only their fourth road victory of the season.

Alonzo Mourning had 25 points for the Heat, which was outscored, 31-7, in the third quarter.

Philadelphia 104, Milwaukee 101--Vernon Maxwell scored 14 of his 24 points at Milwaukee in the fourth quarter to help the 76ers win on the road for only the fourth time this season.

Vin Baker led the Bucks with 28 points.

Minnesota 94, Sacramento 90--The Timberwolves won at Sacramento despite a 32-point effort by the Kings’ Mitch Richmond.

NBA Notes

All-Star guard Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks will have X-rays on his sore right hand. . . . Dallas forward Jamal Mashburn underwent successful arthroscopic surgery to relieve pain in his left knee. . . . The NBA All-Star game was seen on television by more than 35 million people, NBC said, making it the second most-watched NBA All-Star game of all time.