SPORTSWIRE: Clippers avoid making history against Milwaukee

Sixers top Heat; Magic win; Rodman in trouble once again; Kansas staves off Gators Pooh Richardson picked up a loose ball, jumped frantically and launched a 19-footer at the buzzer. He hit nothing but net to give the Clippers a 96-94 overtime victory last night over the Milwaukee Bucks. The Clippers got their first win of the season after 16 defeats, avoiding matching an NBA record for a losing streak to start of the season. The Clippers ended their string of futility one loss shy of the expansion Miami Heat's 0-17 start in 1988. Loy Vaught, playing like a man who wanted no part of an NBA record losing streak, scored 30 points and had 14 rebounds against the Bucks, who now have lost nine straight themselves. Richardson had 13 assists and nine points. Glenn Robinson led the Bucks with 22 points. · 76ers 111, Heat 102 MIAMI -- Jeff Malone would be happy to play the Miami Heat every night. The Philadelphia 76ers guard scored 34 points, the fifth time in his career he's topped 30 points against Miami, to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 111-102 win last night. Malone hit 13 of 17 from the floor and seven of eight from the line. ''He plays against us with extreme confidence,'' Heat coach Kevin Loughery said. ''You've got to make contact with Jeff and we didn't make enough contact with him.'' Dana Barros and former Miami player Willie Burton each scored 19 for the 76ers, while Glen Rice led Miami with 25. With the win, Philadelphia joins the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers as the only three NBA teams to have 2,000 all-time victories. · Celtics 93, Hawks 80 BOSTON -- Dee Brown scored 24 points and Xavier McDaniel 23 as the Boston Celtics overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to post a 93-80 win over the Atlanta Hawks on last night. Boston played without its leading scorer and rebounder, Dino Radja, who broke his right hand against the Knicks in New York Tuesday. Mookie Blaylock led the Hawks with a game-high 26 points. Stacey Augmon contributed 16 in his 11th straight double-figure game. The Hawks were held to 28 points in the second half and were outscored 23-11 in the fourth quarter. Eric Montross scored 16 points and had a season-high 14 rebounds. David Wesley and Dominique Wilkins had 12 points each to help the Celtics snap a three-game losing streak. · Magic 90, Cavaliers 75 ORLANDO, Fla. -- Shaquille O'Neal sparked a 10-0 run midway through the fourth quarter and finished with 33 points and 10 rebounds last night to lead the Orlando Magic to a 90-75 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. The victory was the second in as many nights over the Cavs, who stayed close for three quarters despite shooting only 39 percent. After giving up a season-high 114 in a 17-point loss Tuesday night, Cleveland slowed the tempo and held the NBA's highest-scoring team to its lowest point total of the season. But the 75 points Orlando allowed also were a season-low for the Magic, which broke the game open with the 10-0 run that gave them an 80-65 lead. Anfernee Hardaway, who had 14 points, made a 3-pointer during the surge which Anthony Avent finished with a fast-break tip-in. O'Neal had only 6 points in the last 12 minutes, but all were vital as Orlando pulled away from 65-62 advantage. Nick Anderson made a pair of 3-pointers in the final minute to finish with 17 for the Magic. Chris Mills led Cleveland with 14 points. John Williams and Tony Campbell each had 12, while Mark Price was held to 6 on 2-for-12 shooting. Price also had six turnovers. · SAN ANTONIO -- Dennis Rodman was suspended by the San Antonio Spurs for the second time this season yesterday when he failed to return from a 3 1/2-week paid leave of absence. Coach Bob Hill said Rodman called during practice Wednesday and said he was in Dallas. Rodman told Hill the keys to a friend's truck were stolen from his pocket, and some of the player's possessions were taken. ''I have no understanding of why he was not at practice or where he was today,'' Spurs general manager Gregg Popovich said at a news conference. ''The excuse was not acceptable, if that's what you're wondering.'' This latest suspension is without pay. Popovich said it could be lifted when Rodman returns to the team and meets with team officials, but the general manager gave no timetable for that happening. Rodman, 33, whose erratic behavior has been a repeated source of irritation to the Spurs this season, has yet to play this season. He led the league in rebounding the last three seasons, averaging 17.3 a game last year. The Spurs (7-8) suspended him for a series of preseason incidents that culminated during the team's final exhibition game. Rodman tossed an ice bag toward Hill and was subsequently ejected. After the three-game suspension, Rodman and the Spurs agreed he would take a paid leave of absence, which began Nov. 12. The leave was to have ended Tuesday, and Rodman was expected to show for Wednesday's team meeting and practice. There had been reports that part of the agreement for the leave of the absence was for Rodman to receive psychological counseling. Popovich confirmed the leave did have some ''guidelines'' but would not elaborate. No. 5 Massachusetts 85, Pitt 57 AMHERST, Mass. -- For one pleasant night in a grueling early season schedule, Massachusetts could cruise to an easy win. Now it's back to work. The fifth-ranked Minutemen (2-1) routed error-plagued Pittsburgh 85-57 last night in their first game since losing the No. 1 national ranking. Next up is No. 11 Maryland, their third ranked opponent in four games. Lou Roe and Mike Williams scored 13 points each for the Minutemen, who used all 15 players and got points from 12. Pittsburgh (1-3), one of the weakest teams in the Big East, was led by Chad Varga with 20 points, while Jason Maile added 17. Pittsburgh committed 28 turnovers, leading to 39 points. The Panthers averaged 23 turnovers in their first three games. The score was 30-17 when Marcus Camby's dunk started the 12-0 run. Donta Bright then hit a free throw and Dana Dingle converted an offensive rebound. Bright got the next five points on a 10-footer from the baseline and a three-point play, and Andre Burks finished the surge with a fastbreak layup at the buzzer. Pittsburgh came no closer than 25 points in the second half. Massachusetts' biggest lead of the game was 85-54 on Jason Germain's 3-pointer with 49 seconds left. · No. 7 Kentucky 73, Indiana 70 LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Walter McCarty hit a 3-pointer with 1:37 left last night to spark No. 7 Kentucky to a 73-70 victory over Indiana, which never recovered from a delay of game technical foul with 4:02 to play. Neil Reed's layup gave Indiana (2-4) a 64-62 lead, but he was called for the technical when he swatted the ball out of bounds. Anthony Epps made the two free throws off the technical to tie the game. McCarty was fouled by Alan Henderson 10 seconds later and made both free throws to give Kentucky (3-1) a 66-64 lead. The game was tied only once more. Reed made two free throws and Henderson one to bring the Hoosiers within 70-69, but McCarty then hit his 3 from the right corner. Indiana had three chances to tie in the final 30 seconds but Reed had a 3 blocked by Antoine Walker with 25.5 left, Brian Evans missed a 3 five seconds later, and Reed missed another 3 just before the final horn. The last time Indiana started a season 2-4 was 1965-66. · No. 4 Kansas 69, No. 6 Florida 63 LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Jerod Haase scored 22 points, Greg Ostertag tied a Big Eight record with eight blocked shots and No. 4 Kansas trailed only once last night en route to a 69-63 victory over No. 6 Florida. The Jayhawks (4-0), who beat then-No. 1 Massachusetts 81-75 on Saturday, led the Gators 29-25 at halftime and quickly ran up a 36-25 bulge with Sean Pearson's 3-pointer, Haase's driving layup and Jacque Vaughn's 10-foot jumper. Florida (3-1), with Coach Lon Kruger making his first appearance in Kansas since abruptly quitting as Kansas State coach, never got closer than five. Ostertag, a 7-foot-2 senior who broke the school record with 97 blocks last year, had five blocked shots in the first half and went on to tie the conference and school records. The Gators, who return four starters from last season's Final Four team, did not get a point from their guards until Dan Cross drilled a 12-footer to make it 38-30 early in the second half. Until then, the Gator guards were 0-for-14 as most of the scoring fell to Andrew DeClercq, who had 20 points and 14 rebounds as he broke his own school record by playing in his 102nd consecutive game. Cross had 25 points, all but two in the second half. Pearson and Vaughn opened the game with 3-pointers and Kansas, the preseason Big Eight favorite, led by as many as eight in the early going but fell into a scoring drought when Vaughn, a sophomore point guard, went to the bench for a rest. He finished with 11 points and seven assists. · No. 18 Georgetown 76, Providence 74 LANDOVER, Md. -- Jerome Williams' rebound layup with 41 seconds remaining gave No. 18 Georgetown its only lead of the night as the Hoyas rallied from a 14-point deficit to beat Providence 76-74 last night. Freshman Allen Iverson, who finished with 30 points, hit a 15-foot jumper with 1:20 remaining to pull Georgetown within 74-73, then stripped the ball from guard Jason Murdock 30 seconds later and Williams followed a missed jumper by Iverson for the go-ahead basket. Iverson, who had 21 points in the second half, then hit one of two free throws with 21 seconds left. The Hoyas (3-1) have won three straight, while Providence (4-1) lost for the first time this season in the Big East Conference opener for both. Eric Williams led Providence with 27 points, while Mike Brown had 14 and Troy Brown 12. Williams and Don Reid each added 12 points for Georgetown, which had lost five of its last six meetings with the Friars. Providence scored the first seven points of the game and led by as many as 12 before taking a 40-32 halftime lead. After Troy Brown's tip-in with 13:32 left increased the lead to 56-42, the Hoyas began chipping away, finally closing within 68-67 on a three-point play by Iverson with 3:16 left. The teams traded baskets twice before the Hoyas scored the game's final five points to seal the victory. · Yale 82, Lafayette 69 NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Gabe Hunterton scored 22 points to lead Yale to an 82-69 win over Lafayette last night. Yale (1-3) had a 41-30 lead at the end of the first half and led by as many as 18 points in the second half. The Leopards (2-4) closed the lead to within 10 points with 1:39 left to play., but got no closer as Yale widened the gap with five free throws in the final minute. Craig Kowadla led Lafayette with 23 points. NHL owners are finished talking with the players for the moment. Now, they're talking to themselves. With the latest negotiations having broken off in Chicago, the league's board of governors awaits a meeting in New York Monday that could determine the fate of the season. The governors held a conference call yesterday, as did the general managers. Bettman needs a 75 percent vote from the 26 teams to shut down the season. If so, hockey would become the first professional sport to cancel an entire season because of a labor dispute. The 1994 baseball season was the first to end that way. If it were up to Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington, he would cancel the season should the players not give any more ground in the bargaining talks. The latest negotiations have left the NHL labor situation up in the air and the players up in arms. So far, everybody has been losing with the lockout in its 68th day yesterday and no solution to the stalemate in sight. With no new negotiations scheduled at this point, the next move would seem to be up to the league. Ray Ferraro of the New York Islanders said he ''got a little bit of a sick feeling in my stomach'' when he heard the announcement of the talks breaking off in Chicago on Tuesday. The owners and players met for the fourth time in six days. ATLANTA -- Striking baseball players drew up a new plan yesterday that would give them consulting rights on a commissioner, part of a proposal aimed at avoiding the owners' imposition of a salary cap next week. Union head Donald Fehr did not detail the plan that will be presented to owners Saturday, other than to say it ''will not include a salary cap of any kind.'' But a person inside the union meeting, speaking on the condition he not be identified, said the players' proposal would give them a say on major management decisions. Players would have input on the hiring of a commissioner and other important industry issues such as national television contracts and international play. The commisioner's post -- vacant for more than two years since Fay Vincent was forced out -- was created in 1920 following the Black Sox scandal, and the owners have hired and paid for his services ever since. Owners have said they want to form a partnership with players but haven't wanted to share decision-making. The players' plan, according to two sources, would give them a participatory role in some matters.