Portland Delivers the Real Knockout

Although a fan almost punched him out, Damon Stoudamire had fun against his former team.

Stoudamire, playing his first game at Toronto since demanding a trade two years ago, scored 22 points Tuesday night as the Portland Trail Blazers extended their winning streak to six games with a 114-90 victory over the Raptors.

Stoudamire, one of Toronto’s most popular athletes during his 2 1/2 years in the city, was booed every time he touched the ball. As he left the court afterward, a fan took a swing at him, but struck a security officer instead.

“It wasn’t necessarily stuffing it down people’s throats, but it was just fun,” Stoudamire said.

Vince Carter, who found out before the game that he was left off the U.S. Olympic team, scored only 13 points on five-of-15 shooting for the Raptors.

Sacramento 111, Cleveland 107--Chris Webber scored a season-high 37 points and could only laugh when the Cavaliers’ Bob Sura called a timeout his team didn’t have as the Kings won at Cleveland for the first time.

Webber added 10 rebounds and Jason Williams had 18 points and a career-high 18 assists for Sacramento, which had lost 14 in a row at Cleveland. The Kings were still in Kansas City when they beat the Cavaliers at the old Richfield Coliseum on March 18, 1984.

Webber, who gained infamy by calling a timeout in the closing seconds of the 1993 NCAA title game when Michigan didn’t have any left, and the rest of the Kings celebrated when Sura called timeout with 25 seconds left and the Cavaliers trailing, 106-103.

“That situation,” Webber said. “The same thing that makes you laugh makes you cry.”

Phoenix 86, Charlotte 80--Cliff Robinson scored 30 points at Phoenix and Sun teammate Tom Gugliotta returned to the lineup for the first time since his life-threatening seizure Dec. 17.

Gugliotta sat out seven games after his seizure on the team bus following a game at Portland. He scored two points on one-for-six shooting but led the Suns with 10 rebounds in 16 minutes.

“I felt good,” he said. “I wish I could have played better.”

Indiana 116, New Jersey 111--Reggie Miller scored 24 points before being ejected for arguing a no-call with 4:12 to play in the third quarter at Indianapolis.

New York 96, Boston 88--Allan Houston scored a season-high 37 points for the Knicks at New York.

Vancouver 91, Miami 87--Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 20 points and made four free throws in the final two minutes as the Grizzlies overcame a 15-point deficit at Miami.

Milwaukee 116, Atlanta 113--Isaiah Rider scored 17 points in his return for the Hawks but missed a three-point shot with three seconds to play at Milwaukee.

Rider’s indefinite suspension for missing a team flight and shoot-around last week lasted one game.

Minnesota 91, San Antonio 88--Malik Sealy scored 22 points as the Timberwolves held the Spurs without a field goal for the first 8 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter at Minneapolis.

Seattle 103, Houston 96--Gary Payton scored 29 points at Houston to help the SuperSonics end a five-game losing streak.

Denver 98, Dallas 96--George McCloud made two three-point shots in the final 46 seconds and Antonio McDyess had 27 points and 13 rebounds at Denver.