McDyess Wakes Up Just in Time for Nuggets

Through three quarters, Antonio McDyess had a quiet 10 points and an inexplicable zero rebounds. That’s when two teammates shook him out of his daze.

McDyess scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and also grabbed four rebounds in the period, and the Denver Nuggets posted their third consecutive victory with a 97-88 decision over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night at Denver.

“Mentally, I wasn’t in the game the first three quarters,� McDyess admitted. “Nick [Van Exel] and Ron [Mercer] told me to step up. I had to get focused. They told me to go out and post up, and I did. I scored a couple, and then I really got going both offensively and defensively.�

Mercer had 22 points, Raef LaFrentz 16 and Van Exel 12 points and 13 assists for the Nuggets, who completed a successful homestand by defeating three of the best teams in the Western Conference--Sacramento, San Antonio and Portland.

The Trail Blazers activated guard Bonzi Wells before the game and placed reserve guard Gary Grant on the injured list because of tendinitis in his right knee.

Philadelphia 122, Detroit 121--Eric Snow’s jumper at the buzzer in overtime gave the 76ers a victory over the Pistons at Philadelphia.

Allen Iverson led the 76ers with 32 points on a day when he made up with Coach Larry Brown and apologized for asking to be traded. But with the winning shot up for grabs, Iverson gave up the ball.

Iverson dribbled the length of the court after Grant Hill made two free throws to give Detroit a 121-120 lead with 8.4 seconds left in overtime. Iverson passed to Aaron McKie, who passed to Snow, who is not known for his shooting. Snow pump-faked a couple of times while Jerry Stackhouse soared by, then sank a 16-footer as the buzzer sounded.

Phoenix 108, Milwaukee 101--Rodney Rogers, starting in place of Tom Gugliotta, had a season-high 24 points and 13 rebounds as the Suns stayed unbeaten under new Coach Scott Skiles with a victory over the Bucks at Phoenix.

The Suns, who ended Milwaukee’s three-game winning streak, are 4-0 since Danny Ainge resigned as coach and was replaced by his top assistant.

Phoenix was without Gugliotta for the second game in a row. He was home resting after a seizure on the team bus last Friday night in Portland.

Miami 92, Dallas 89--P.J. Brown scored 22 of his season-high 25 points in the first half as the Heat defeated the Mavericks at Dallas to end a four-game losing streak.

Alonzo Mourning, who had a block in the final 10 seconds, added 18 points and 11 rebounds to help Coach Pat Riley avoid his first five-game losing streak.

Seattle 93, Chicago 84--Vin Baker scored 25 points and Gary Payton added 22, including seven during a decisive 18-3 run in the fourth quarter, as the SuperSonics held on at Chicago.

Corey Benjamin led five Bulls in double figures with a career-high 19 points. Ron Artest, Elton Brand and Kornel David all had 14 apiece, and Rusty LaRue, signed before the game to bolster Chicago’s injury-depleted backcourt, scored 13--two shy of his career high. Six Bulls were in street clothes.

Orlando 104, Utah 102--Darrell Armstrong scored 22 points and Pat Garrity made the game-winning three-point basket with 38.5 seconds left as the Magic defeated the Jazz at Orlando.

After Garrity’s three-point basket, Karl Malone missed a jump shot and Garrity was fouled following the rebound. He missed both free throws, but Monty Williams got the rebound and was fouled. He made one of two attempts to finish the scoring.

New York 112, Charlotte 109--Allan Houston scored 31 points and Latrell Sprewell had 30 in their debut as a starting backcourt tandem as the Knicks ended the Hornets’ eight-game winning streak with an overtime victory at New York.

In a wild, back-and-forth game, the Hornets gave up an 18-0 run in the fourth quarter, but then came back from a 10-point deficit in the final four minutes and survived two misses by the Knicks at the end of regulation to get to overtime, where Sprewell made three of the Knicks’ first four baskets.

Minnesota 100, Cleveland 94--Terrell Brandon, playing in Cleveland’s Gund Arena for the first time since being let go by Cleveland in the Shawn Kemp trade, made a jumper and six free throws in the final 1:36 to rally the Timberwolves to victory over the Cavaliers.

Golden State 111, Sacramento 99--Jason Caffey had 20 of his 26 points in the first half as the Warriors defeated the injury-depleted Kings at Oakland.

The Kings were missing starters Chris Webber (strained neck) and Nick Anderson (inflamed left knee) and backup point guard Darrick Martin (flu).

Around the League

Tim Howells resigned as general manager of the Utah Jazz to go into the restaurant business. Howells’ departure, effective Dec. 31, came a little more than four months after Scott Layden, the team’s vice president for basketball operations, left to become general manager of the New York Knicks. . . . Making up for last season’s lockout-canceled game, the NBA awarded the 2002 All-Star game to Philadelphia. . . . Seeking to spice up telecasts of NBA games, the league, its referees and its broadcasting partners are discussing a plan to have the refs wear microphones as early as this weekend.