Magic Avoids Sweep

NBA roundup

Just when it looked like the Orlando Magic were going to be blown out in a third straight game and swept out of the playoffs for a fourth straight year, Penny Hardaway imposed his will.

Hardaway scored a career postseason-high 42 points and Orlando rallied from a 20-point first half deficit for an 88-75 victory over the Miami Heat Tuesday night at Orlando, Fla., cutting the Magic’s deficit to 2-1 in the best-of-5 series.

“I knew I had to take responsibility for this team. I knew I had to score for us to win,” said Hardaway, who was 16 for 30 from the field and grabbed eight rebounds in 47 minutes.

“The more shots I hit, the more confidence I had, and that got us back into the game.”

Darrell Armstrong, Orlando’s No. 3 point guard, was an unlikely catalyst for the comeback and had a career-high 21 points with eight assists and four steals.

The injury-riddled Magic played without forward Horace Grant and lost center Rony Seikaly to a foot sprain in the second quarter. Dennis Scott, a starter during the regular season, played only 9 minutes because of sore knees.

Miami, which won Game 1 by 35 points and Game 2 by 17, led 35-15 before stumbling. The Heat finished with 20 turnovers after having only 21 combined in the first two games.

“The playoffs will humble you,” Miami coach Pat Riley said. “If you are really not focusing on staying in the game, and you’re thinking that it’s over, a team will come back and get you. We’ll just have to come back more disciplined.”

The Magic finally shook the stigma of never having won a game after losing the opener of a series. Game 4 is Thursday night with Orlando needing a victory to send the series back to Miami for a decisive fifth game on Sunday.

“I think it’s a series again. I think the pressure’s back on them, the way we played tonight,” Hardaway said.

Mourning, who sat out much of the second quarter in foul trouble, led Miami with 17 points and 17 rebounds.

The winner of the series will face New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Magic 88, Heat 75

Miami (75) - Mashburn 4-12 0-2 9, Brown 2-5 3-4 7, Mourning 8-12 1-6 17, Lenard 5-13 2-2 14, T.Hardaway 4-16 1-2 12, Askins 2-5 2-2 7, Majerle 2-8 0-0 5, Austin 2-7 0-0 4, Crotty 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 29-80 9-18 75.

Orlando (88) - Anderson 1-7 0-0 2, Strong 0-1 0-0 0, Seikaly 1-3 0-0 2, Shaw 1-5 0-0 2, P.Hardaway 16-30 9-10 42, Scott 0-3 0-0 0, Armstrong 6-11 7-7 21, Schayes 2-4 4-4 8, Wilkins 4-9 2-2 11. Totals 31-73 22-23 88.

Miami 29 13 15 18 - 75

Orlando 13 29 23 23 - 88

3-Point goals-Miami 8-30 (T.Hardaway 3-10, Lenard 2-8, Askins 1-2, Mashburn 1-3, Majerle 1-5, Crotty 0-2), Orlando 4-19 (Armstrong 2-5, Wilkins 1-2, P.Hardaway 1-4, Scott 0-1, Shaw 0-2, Anderson 0-5). Fouled out-Strong. Rebounds-Miami 66 (Mourning 17), Orlando 4-19 (Armstrong 2-5, Wilkins 1-2, P.Hardaway 1-4, Scott 0-1, Shaw 0-2, Anderson 0-5). Assists- Miami 17 (T.Hardaway 8), Orlando 11 (Armstrong 8). Total fouls- Miami 24, Orlando 20. Technicals-T.Hardaway, Armstrong. A-17,248 (17,248).

Pistons 99, Hawks 91 Auburn Hills, Mich.

Lindsey Hunter scored 26 points and again kept Mookie Blaylock out of the flow as Detroit took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-5 series.

Game 4 will be played Friday night at The Palace. The fifth game, if needed, would be Sunday at Atlanta.

The Pistons shot 53 percent from the field and 8 of 14 from 3-point range to overcome a 41-21 rebounding deficit against the taller Hawks. Atlanta, by comparison, was 5-for-23 on 3-pointers.

Grant Hill scored 24 points for Detroit with eight assists and four rebounds. Hunter shot 11 of 17, including 4 for 5 on 3-pointers, Terry Mills had 17 points and Otis Thorpe 16.

Dikembe Mutombo scored 15 points and a playoff career-high 21 rebounds for Atlanta. Blaylock scored 16 points, but nine came in the fourth quarter when there was little doubt about the outcome.

Atlanta (91) - Corbin 5-12 2-2 12, Laettner 9-18 6-6 25, Mutombo 6-7 3-4 15, Blaylock 5-13 3-5 16, Smith 7-14 6-8 21, Recasner 0-0 0-0 0, Newbill 0-0 0-0 0, James 0-0 0-0 0, Henderson 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 33-66 20-25 91.

Detroit (99) - Hill 10-19 4-7 24, Thorpe 7-9 2-3 16, Mills 7-14 0-0 17, Hunter 11-17 0-0 26, Dumars 1-8 7-7 10, McKie 1-3 0-0 2, Long 1-3 0-0 2, Ratliff 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 39-74 13-17 99.

Atlanta 20 20 26 25 - 91 Detroit 24 32 16 27 - 99 3-Point goals-Atlanta 5-23 (Blaylock 3-10, Laettner 1-4, Smith 1-5, Corbin 0-4), Detroit 8-14 (Hunter 4-5, Mills 3-6, Dumars 1-3). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Atlanta 49 (Mutombo 21), Detroit 28 (Mills 7). Assists-Atlanta 17 (Blaylock 10), Detroit 18 (Hill 8). Total fouls-Atlanta 20, Detroit 19. Technicals-Atlanta coach Wilkens, Detroit illegal defense 2. A-21,059 (21,454).

Rockets 125, Timberwolves 120 Minneapolis

Houston swept Minnesota out of its first playoff appearance as rookie Matt Maloney hit six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 26 points.

Houston shot 15 for 28 from 3-point range against Minnesota, which was playing the first home playoff game in the franchise’s eight-year history.

Maloney was 9 for 11 from the field, including 6 for 8 from 3-point range. Charles Barkley scored 20 and Hakeem Olajuwon had 19 points and 11 rebounds to help Houston into the second round, where it will face the winner of the Seattle-Phoenix series.

Tom Gugliotta led the Wolves with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Dean Garrett added 26 points and 15 rebounds.

All 10 starters scored in double figures.

Houston (125) - Elie 6-8 5-7 21, Barkley 5-9 9-11 20, Olajuwon 9-15 1-2 19, Drexler 6-11 4-5 17, Maloney 9-11 2-3 26, Willis 2-6 1-2 5, Johnson 5-9 0-0 12, Threatt 2-4 0-0 5, Harrington 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 44-73 22-30 125.

Minnesota (120) - Garnett 7-16 3-3 17, Gugliotta 10-19 4-6 27, Garrett 11-17 4-5 26, West 5-8 6-6 16, Marbury 6-21 2-2 14, Porter 0-2 0-0 0, Robinson 4-7 0-0 11, Mitchell 4-6 1-1 9. Totals 47-96 20-23 120.

Houston 32 27 32 34 - 125

Minnesota 29 30 32 29 - 120

3-Point goals-Houston 15-28 (Maloney 6-8, Elie 4-5, Johnson 2-6, Barkley 1-2, Threatt 1-3, Drexler 1-4), Minnesota 6-15 (Gugliotta 3-4, Robinson 3-6, Porter 0-1, Marbury 0-4). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Houston 42 (Olajuwon 11), Minnesota 47 (Garrett 15). Assists-Houston 33 (Drexler 9), Minnesota 30 (Marbury 13). Total fouls-Houston 20, Minnesota 20. Technicals-Drexler, Houston illegal defense 3, Minnesota illegal defense. A-19,006 (19,006).