O’Neal Wins Showdown With Mourning

Shaquille O’Neal had a song and Alonzo Mourning had a confession after the two met Wednesday in a Florida showdown.

O’Neal’s Orlando Magic defeated Mourning’s Miami Heat, 116-112, at Orlando, giving the Magic a 29-0 home record. Afterward, O’Neal walked through his lockerroom singing, “I play for the best team in Florida.�

O’Neal had 31 points and 14 rebounds to Mourning’s 18 points and 10 rebounds.

“You’ve got to compete. That’s what it’s all about,� said Mourning, who went three for 13 from the field; O’Neal was 11 for 23. “To tell you the truth, I don’t think I showed the competitiveness I usually show on a consistent basis. I told some of the guys: ‘Hey, I didn’t show up tonight.’ �

Anfernee Hardaway barely missed a triple-double for Orlando with 27 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.

Sacramento 90, New York 85--Sarunas Marciulionis made two three-point shots in the final 1:41 at Sacramento and the Kings went on to snap an 11-game losing streak.

Atlanta 90, Portland 88--Mookie Blaylock made a three-point shot with 11 seconds to play at Atlanta to enable Hawk coach Lenny Wilkens, the NBA’s all-time winningest coach, to notch his 999th career victory.

Blaylock had 23 points and eight assists in leading Atlanta to its third victory in a row.

Boston 121, Charlotte 116 OT--David Wesley scored 33 points at Boston, including the go-ahead basket in overtime, as the Celtics snapped a five-game losing streak.

Larry Johnson led the Hornets with 26 points. Teammate Kenny Anderson had 22 points and 13 assists, but lost his dribble at the end of regulation to force overtime and was ejected in the extra period for throwing the ball at Boston’s Todd Day.

Seattle 94, Detroit 80--The SuperSonics held the Pistons to 32 points in the final two periods at Seattle, enabling the SuperSonics to win their 11th game in a row.

Seattle broke the game open without the services of Shawn Kemp. He was ejected for arguing a call with 9:31 left, but still led the team with 23 points and had 14 rebounds.

Allan Houston led the Pistons with 29 points.

Phoenix 117, Minnesota 93--The Timberwolves have beaten the Suns only once in the last seven seasons. Charles Barkley played a key role in making sure it didn’t happen again, finishing one assist shy of a triple-double at Minneapolis, where he had 24 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.

Utah 115, Washington 93--The Jazz scored 20 of the game’s first 22 points at Salt Lake City and went on to win for the sixth time in seven games.

NBA Notes

Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley were fined $10,000 each by the league for skipping a media day on the Friday before the NBA All-Star game in San Antonio. Jordan and Barkley reportedly were playing golf. . . . The New York Knicks re-signed veteran center Herb Williams 10 days after trading him to the Toronto Raptors. He was cut by the Raptors five days later. . . . The Boston Celtics placed guard Dee Brown on the injured list because of a sore right toe.