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 artfullydodged the hoop Monday night. Despite 12-of-39 shooting, Jordanmade the final basket of regulation, overtime and doubleovertime, lifting the Chicago Bulls to an 87-83 victory over theSan Antonio Spurs. Jordan finished with 29 points, including hisfirst 3-pointer of the season as time expired in regulation and atying jumper with 22 seconds to go in the first extra session.With the Bulls clinging to an 83-82 lead in the final minute, AirJordan sprung for a 15-footer from the left corner with 32seconds left. The teams traded free throws thereafter as Chicagoheld on for its second straight win. Former Spur Dennis Rodmangrabbed 22 rebounds before fouling out for the Bulls, whoovercame a 16-point second-quarter deficit and 31 percentshooting (33-of-108). David Robinson collected 21 points and 12rebounds and rookie Tim Duncan added 19 and 22 for the Spurs, wholost their fifth consecutive meeting with Chicago.
IN THE PAINT
In the remainder of Monday's NBA action, Chris Webber collected26 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Washington Wizards to theirfirst win in Salt Lake City in a decade, a 90-86 victory over theUtah Jazz. Juwan Howard added 19 points and 10 rebounds and RodStrickland chipped in with 17 points for the Wizards, who hadlost 10 straight games in Utah since a victory in February 1987.And in Miami, Glen Rice scored 15 of his 28 points in the fourthquarter as the Charlotte Hornets defeated the Heat, 112-99, fortheir first victory of the season. Rice, traded from Miami toCharlotte two years ago to the day, had scored just 21 points inhis 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 amistake" in decking Utah Jazz center Greg Ostertag. On Monday,O'Neal issued a formal apology to everyone involved and later wassuspended one game without pay by the NBA. Still nursing anabdominal strain, O'Neal issued a statement through the team thatapologized to ownership, management, teammates, fans andOstertag, whom he knocked to the floor at a shootaround Fridaymorning -- hours before the season opener. Rod Thorn, NBA seniorvice president of basketball operations, suspended O'Neal forTuesday's game at Sacramento and fined him $10,000. The one-gamedocking will cost O'Neal $156,817. There were many conflictingaccounts of the incident, which took place as the Lakers wereleaving and the Jazz were taking the floor at The Forum. TheLakers admitted an altercation occurred and Jazz spokesman KimTurner was told Ostertag was "punched or knocked down" by O'Neal."I made a mistake," O'Neal said. "Instead of focusing on what isbest for the team, I got caught up in the drama of the season'sfirst game and reacted emotionally instead of logically."Ostertag had no comment prior to Monday night's home loss to theWashington Wizards. O'Neal, who suffered the abdominal strain ina preseason game Oct. 20 against the Denver Nuggets, sat outFriday's 104-87 victory by the Lakers.

Mavs sign Anstey to three-year contract

The Dallas Mavericks Monday signed Australian center ChrisAnstey, the 18th overall pick in the draft, to a three-yearcontract. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but themaximum Anstey could earn is $2,935,600 according to the rookiecontract. The 7-foot center was initially drafted by the PortlandTrail Blazers, who sent him and monetary compensation to Dallasfor Kelvin Cato, the 15th pick. Anstey fulfilled his contract inthe Australian league and arrived in Dallas Sunday. His team, SEMelbourne Magic, lost in the championship to the MelbourneTigers. Anstey played in the FILA Summer Pro League in LongBeach, Calif., this summer, averaging 12.8 points and 8.0rebounds. Anstey is the first Australian selected in the openinground since Luc Longley was picked by Minnesota in 1991.

Monday's results

                    1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH     FINAL                    --- --- --- ---     -----CHARLOTTE            32  22  22  36      112MIAMI                20  17  28  34       99
                    1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH     FINAL                    --- --- --- ---     -----WASHINGTON           22  22  19  27       90UTAH                 30  12  16  28       86
            1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH  OT 2OT     FINAL            --- --- --- --- --- ---     -----SAN ANTONIO  29  16  12  16   6   4       83CHICAGO      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  2MIAMI           2   1   .667    1/2  1-1    1-0    1-0   LOST 1BOSTON          1   1   .500  1      1-1    0-0    0-1   LOST 1NEW YORK        1   1   .500  1      0-1    1-0    0-0   LOST 1ORLANDO         1   1   .500  1      0-1    1-0    1-0   WON  1WASHINGTON      1   2   .333  1 1/2  0-1    1-1    0-1   WON  1PHILADELPHIA    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  2DETROIT         2   0  1.000  -      1-0    1-0    0-0   WON  2CHICAGO         2   1   .667    1/2  2-0    0-1    0-0   WON  2INDIANA         1   1   .500  1      1-0    0-1    0-0   WON  1MILWAUKEE       1   1   .500  1      0-1    1-0    0-0   LOST 1CHARLOTTE       1   2   .333  1 1/2  0-1    1-1    0-0   WON  1CLEVELAND       0   2   .000  2      0-0    0-2    0-0   LOST 2TORONTO         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  2HOUSTON         2   0  1.000  -      1-0    1-0    0-0   WON  2MINNESOTA       2   0  1.000  -      2-0    0-0    0-0   WON  2SAN ANTONIO     2   1   .667    1/2  1-0    1-0    1-0   WON  2VANCOUVER       1   1   .500  1      1-1    0-0    0-1   WON  1UTAH            1   2   .333  1 1/2  1-0    0-1    1-0   WON  1DENVER          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  1PHOENIX         1   0  1.000  -      1-0    0-0    1-0   WON  1PORTLAND        1   1   .500    1/2  0-1    1-0    1-1   WON  1SEATTLE         1   1   .500    1/2  0-1    1-0    1-0   LOST 1GOLDEN STATE    0   2   .000  1 1/2  0-0    0-2    0-0   LOST 2LA CLIPPERS     0   2   .000  1 1/2  0-1    0-1    0-2   LOST 2SACRAMENTO      0   2   .000  1 1/2  0-1    0-1    0-0   LOST 2

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

NBA -- Suspended Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal onegame without pay and fined him $10,000 for hitting Utah Jazzcenter Greg Ostertag during a shootaround on Oct. 31.
Dallas Mavericks -- Signed center Chris Anstey, their first-rounddraft pick, to a three-year contract; waived forward AdrianCaldwell.