NBA ROUNDUP : O’Neal, Hardaway Lead Magic in Challenge to Knick Throne

The Magic talked of one victory and one Friday night in Orlando, Fla., not a season.

“It’s way too early to call us No. 1 in the East,� Shaquille O’Neal said after he scored 38 points and Anfernee Hardaway had 33 to pace a 125-100 rout of conference champion New York.

Orlando has won nine games in a row, a franchise record, including lopsided victories in the last 10 days over both clubs that reached the NBA finals last spring.

“It’s just one game, and all that game did was tie the season series,� O’Neal said. “We have to take the way we are playing now and continue it to keep our winning streak going.�

O’Neal and Hardaway were so effective that with one minute to play in the third quarter, New York had 68 points and they had 64. Both players sat out much of the fourth quarter, while reserves finished the rout.

Patrick Ewing paced the Knicks, who never led, with 15 points and John Starks had 12.

Washington 115, Detroit 104--The Bullets won their first game with Chris Webber in the lineup, getting 18 points and nine rebounds from him after he had guaranteed a victory on “The Late Show With David Letterman� on Thursday.

Kevin Duckworth had 18 points and 10 rebounds for Washington, which rallied from a 15-point deficit to win for the first time in 20 days. Calbert Cheaney scored 19, and Rex Chapman and Don MacLean each had 17.

San Antonio 95, Portland 91--David Robinson scored 32 points and Sean Elliott a season-high 31 as the Spurs won on the road for only the second time in six tries.

San Antonio scored the final four points of the game after the Trail Blazers scored five in a row to tie the score, 91-91.

Atlanta 92, Chicago 81--Stacey Augmon scored 20 points in winning at Chicago, where the Bulls got only nine points from Scottie Pippen.

Phoenix 107, Boston 102--Sun Coach Paul Westphal got his point across, leaving Danny Manning, Charles Barkley and Dan Majerle on the bench at the start to think about their defensive problems, then brought them in to overcome a 22-point second-quarter deficit and deal with a sensational second half by Dominique Wilkins at Boston.

Wilkins scored 22 of his 34 points in the second half and his last basket gave the Celtics a 100-97 lead, but Phoenix scored the next 10 points to win.

Majerle led the Suns with 21 points, Manning had 19 and Barkley 18.

Philadelphia 99, Sacramento 96--Willie Burton had 25 points and Clarence Weatherspoon scored 12 of his 18 points in the final quarter for the 76ers at Philadelphia.

Miami 115, New Jersey 97--Glen Rice matched his season high with 34 points and Kevin Willis scored a season-high 31, boosting the Heat at Miami.