Net 62 Adds Up to Bad Night for New Jersey

John Calipari has had a lot of lows in losing 30 of 41 games since coming to the NBA to coach the New Jersey Nets.

But nothing in the team’s 20-plus year NBA history was lower than Tuesday night, at least in terms of points, as the Nets dropped an 84-62 decision to the Cleveland Cavaliers at East Rutherford, N.J.

“We’re at a point right now where feeling sorry for yourself or being disappointed doesn’t do any good,� said Calipari, who has lost more games this year than in his previous five seasons (26 losses) at Massachusetts. “We have to get better as individuals and get better as a team. We took a giant step backward and it was a team effort.�

Cleveland, among the NBA’s best defensive teams, limited New Jersey to 10 points in the first quarter, 11 in the final and held the Nets without a field goal for more than 10 minutes in the third and fourth quarters.

New Jersey’s previous low was 68 points against Utah in 1989.

Toronto 120, Portland 84--Doug Christie tied a career-high with 33 points at Toronto and led the Raptors to their most lopsided victory ever.

Christie, a former Laker, made 10 of 13 shots from the field and was 11 for 11 from the foul line. Walt Williams tied the club record for three-pointers, making six of nine, and finished with 24 points.

Portland lost for only the fourth time in 15 games. Two of those losses have been to Toronto.

Carlos Rogers, whose sister died of kidney failure in a Detroit hospital last Friday, was at the game but not in uniform for the Raptors.

Chicago 111, Vancouver 96--This game between the NBA’s best and worst teams went pretty much as expected as Michael Jordan scored 28 points and Scottie Pippen added 24 for the Bulls at Vancouver.

The Bulls have won four straight and 13 of their last 14, while the Grizzlies have lost six straight and 11 of their last 12.

Chicago improved to 38-5, while Vancouver lost its third in a row since Stu Jackson replaced Brian Winters as the team’s coach.

Utah 114, Denver 99--Karl Malone scored 28 points and Jeff Hornacek had 10 of his 27 points during a decisive 19-6 run in the third quarter at Salt Lake City.

John Stockton added 18 points as the Jazz won for the seventh time in its last eight games.

Denver’s Mark Jackson had 20 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds.

New York 109, Boston 107--The Knicks had their best shooting night of the season against a team they always beat. Yet it took a basket with 8.4 seconds left from a player who hadn’t made one all night for them to win at New York.

Chris Childs made the winning shot, a three-pointer, off a cross-court pass from a double-teamed Patrick Ewing.

After Childs made his shot, the Celtics still had two more chances to tie or win. But Antoine Walker missed on a drive and Todd Day was off-target on a three-point attempt at the buzzer.

It was the 15th straight home victory for the Knicks, their 18th straight overall against the Celtics and their third this month over Boston.

Detroit 93, Milwaukee 84--Grant Hill scored 22 points to lead the Pistons at Milwaukee.

The Pistons held their opponent to less than 100 points for the 22nd straight game. The Houston Rockets are the only team to score 100 points against Detroit this season.

Sacramento 91, Minnesota 88--The Kings have come to expect big games from Mitch Richmond, and they got another one at Minneapolis.

Richmond took care of the offense with 28 points and nine assists. And the defense, ranked 21st, took care of the rest, holding the Timberwolves to one-for-11 shooting in the final 5:51.

Washington 102, Orlando 82--Chris Webber responded to his All-Star snub with 17 points and 14 rebounds as the Bullets won at Landover, Md., to end the Magic’s four-game winning streak.

Juwan Howard had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Bullets, who won for only the third time in nine games. Anfernee Hardaway scored 22 and Rony Seikaly 21 for the Magic, who had won seven of their previous eight.

Charlotte 98, Indiana 97--Glen Rice scored 30 points, including two foul shots with four seconds left, as the Hornets won at Indianapolis.

The Hornets led, 96-94, when Indiana reserve Jerome Allen missed a layup. Rice rebounded, was fouled and made the free throws, enough to offset a three-pointer by Eddie Johnson of the Pacers shortly before the buzzer.