Sports - National Basketball Association Daily - 11/4/97

Air's touch finally finishes Spurs O'Neal suspended after apology to Lakers, Ostertag Mavs sign Anstey to three-year contract

Air's touch finally finishes Spurs

Michael Jordan is well renowned for his masterpiece performances,
but with the exception of a delicate finishing touch, he artfully
dodged the hoop Monday night. Despite 12-of-39 shooting, Jordan
made the final basket of regulation, overtime and double
overtime, lifting the Chicago Bulls to an 87-83 victory over the
San Antonio Spurs. Jordan finished with 29 points, including his
first 3-pointer of the season as time expired in regulation and a
tying jumper with 22 seconds to go in the first extra session.
With the Bulls clinging to an 83-82 lead in the final minute, Air
Jordan sprung for a 15-footer from the left corner with 32
seconds left. The teams traded free throws thereafter as Chicago
held on for its second straight win. Former Spur Dennis Rodman
grabbed 22 rebounds before fouling out for the Bulls, who
overcame a 16-point second-quarter deficit and 31 percent
shooting (33-of-108). David Robinson collected 21 points and 12
rebounds and rookie Tim Duncan added 19 and 22 for the Spurs, who
lost their fifth consecutive meeting with Chicago.

IN THE PAINT

In the remainder of Monday's NBA action, Chris Webber collected
26 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Washington Wizards to their
first win in Salt Lake City in a decade, a 90-86 victory over the
Utah Jazz. Juwan Howard added 19 points and 10 rebounds and Rod
Strickland chipped in with 17 points for the Wizards, who had
lost 10 straight games in Utah since a victory in February 1987.
And in Miami, Glen Rice scored 15 of his 28 points in the fourth
quarter as the Charlotte Hornets defeated the Heat, 112-99, for
their first victory of the season. Rice, traded from Miami to
Charlotte two years ago to the day, had scored just 21 points in
his first two games while shooting 27 percent from the floor.

O'Neal suspended after apology to Lakers, Ostertag

Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal admitted he "made a
mistake" in decking Utah Jazz center Greg Ostertag. On Monday,
O'Neal issued a formal apology to everyone involved and later was
suspended one game without pay by the NBA. Still nursing an
abdominal strain, O'Neal issued a statement through the team that
apologized to ownership, management, teammates, fans and
Ostertag, whom he knocked to the floor at a shootaround Friday
morning -- hours before the season opener. Rod Thorn, NBA senior
vice president of basketball operations, suspended O'Neal for
Tuesday's game at Sacramento and fined him $10,000. The one-game
docking will cost O'Neal $156,817. There were many conflicting
accounts of the incident, which took place as the Lakers were
leaving and the Jazz were taking the floor at The Forum. The
Lakers admitted an altercation occurred and Jazz spokesman Kim
Turner was told Ostertag was "punched or knocked down" by O'Neal.
"I made a mistake," O'Neal said. "Instead of focusing on what is
best for the team, I got caught up in the drama of the season's
first game and reacted emotionally instead of logically."
Ostertag had no comment prior to Monday night's home loss to the
Washington Wizards. O'Neal, who suffered the abdominal strain in
a preseason game Oct. 20 against the Denver Nuggets, sat out
Friday's 104-87 victory by the Lakers.

Mavs sign Anstey to three-year contract

The Dallas Mavericks Monday signed Australian center Chris
Anstey, the 18th overall pick in the draft, to a three-year
contract. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the
maximum Anstey could earn is $2,935,600 according to the rookie
contract. The 7-foot center was initially drafted by the Portland
Trail Blazers, who sent him and monetary compensation to Dallas
for Kelvin Cato, the 15th pick. Anstey fulfilled his contract in
the Australian league and arrived in Dallas Sunday. His team, SE
Melbourne Magic, lost in the championship to the Melbourne
Tigers. Anstey played in the FILA Summer Pro League in Long
Beach, Calif., this summer, averaging 12.8 points and 8.0
rebounds. Anstey is the first Australian selected in the opening
round since Luc Longley was picked by Minnesota in 1991.

Monday's results

                    1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH     FINAL
                    --- --- --- ---     -----
CHARLOTTE            32  22  22  36      112
MIAMI                20  17  28  34       99


                    1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH     FINAL
                    --- --- --- ---     -----
WASHINGTON           22  22  19  27       90
UTAH                 30  12  16  28       86


            1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH  OT 2OT     FINAL
            --- --- --- --- --- ---     -----
SAN ANTONIO  29  16  12  16   6   4       83
CHICAGO      15  20  18  20   6   8       87

Atlantic Central Midwest Pacific

Atlantic

                W   L    PCT  GB     HOME   ROAD   DIV   STREAK
                -   -    ---  --     ----   ----   ---   ------
NEW JERSEY      2   0  1.000  -      1-0    1-0    0-0   WON  2
MIAMI           2   1   .667    1/2  1-1    1-0    1-0   LOST 1
BOSTON          1   1   .500  1      1-1    0-0    0-1   LOST 1
NEW YORK        1   1   .500  1      0-1    1-0    0-0   LOST 1
ORLANDO         1   1   .500  1      0-1    1-0    1-0   WON  1
WASHINGTON      1   2   .333  1 1/2  0-1    1-1    0-1   WON  1
PHILADELPHIA    0   2   .000  2      0-1    0-1    0-0   LOST 2

Central

                W   L    PCT  GB     HOME   ROAD   DIV   STREAK
                -   -    ---  --     ----   ----   ---   ------
ATLANTA         2   0  1.000  -      1-0    1-0    1-0   WON  2
DETROIT         2   0  1.000  -      1-0    1-0    0-0   WON  2
CHICAGO         2   1   .667    1/2  2-0    0-1    0-0   WON  2
INDIANA         1   1   .500  1      1-0    0-1    0-0   WON  1
MILWAUKEE       1   1   .500  1      0-1    1-0    0-0   LOST 1
CHARLOTTE       1   2   .333  1 1/2  0-1    1-1    0-0   WON  1
CLEVELAND       0   2   .000  2      0-0    0-2    0-0   LOST 2
TORONTO         0   2   .000  2      0-0    0-2    0-1   LOST 2

Midwest

                W   L    PCT  GB     HOME   ROAD   DIV   STREAK
                -   -    ---  --     ----   ----   ---   ------
DALLAS          2   0  1.000  -      0-0    2-0    1-0   WON  2
HOUSTON         2   0  1.000  -      1-0    1-0    0-0   WON  2
MINNESOTA       2   0  1.000  -      2-0    0-0    0-0   WON  2
SAN ANTONIO     2   1   .667    1/2  1-0    1-0    1-0   WON  2
VANCOUVER       1   1   .500  1      1-1    0-0    0-1   WON  1
UTAH            1   2   .333  1 1/2  1-0    0-1    1-0   WON  1
DENVER          0   2   .000  2      0-1    0-1    0-2   LOST 2

Pacific

                W   L    PCT  GB     HOME   ROAD   DIV   STREAK
                -   -    ---  --     ----   ----   ---   ------
LA LAKERS       1   0  1.000  -      1-0    0-0    0-0   WON  1
PHOENIX         1   0  1.000  -      1-0    0-0    1-0   WON  1
PORTLAND        1   1   .500    1/2  0-1    1-0    1-1   WON  1
SEATTLE         1   1   .500    1/2  0-1    1-0    1-0   LOST 1
GOLDEN STATE    0   2   .000  1 1/2  0-0    0-2    0-0   LOST 2
LA CLIPPERS     0   2   .000  1 1/2  0-1    0-1    0-2   LOST 2
SACRAMENTO      0   2   .000  1 1/2  0-1    0-1    0-0   LOST 2

GOLDEN STATE AT TORONTO       7:00
DETROIT AT ATLANTA            7:30
INDIANA AT CLEVELAND          7:30
BOSTON AT NEW YORK            7:30
HOUSTON AT SEATTLE            8:00
VANCOUVER AT DALLAS           8:30
ORLANDO AT MILWAUKEE          8:30
WASHINGTON AT DENVER          9:00
UTAH AT PHOENIX               9:00
MINNESOTA AT PORTLAND        10:00
LA LAKERS AT SACRAMENTO      10:30

(TIMES LISTED ARE EASTERN)

NBA -- Suspended Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal one
game without pay and fined him $10,000 for hitting Utah Jazz
center Greg Ostertag during a shootaround on Oct. 31.

Dallas Mavericks -- Signed center Chris Anstey, their first-round
draft pick, to a three-year contract; waived forward Adrian
Caldwell.