Shaquille O'Neal and his injured right knee looked OK. Now, his left knee is causing problems.
After missing two games and the All-Star weekend because of his mildly sprained right knee, O'Neal got off to a slammin' start Wednesday night when he dunked an alley-oop pass only six seconds in the Los Angeles Lakers' game at Minnesota.But he strained his left knee a few minutes later when he got tangled with Minnesota's Dean Garrett on another lob and landed awkwardly. Following four more dunks, O'Neal left the game for good late in the first quarter.
O'Neal will be re-evaluated before tonight's game in Denver.
Elden Campbell scored 21 points and Eddie Jones 19 for the Lakers, and Horry had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Los Angeles won for the eighth time in nine games.
Hawks 106, Raptors 84
Jon Barry hit three 3-pointers during a 25-0 run in the fourth quarter to leadg the Hawks to their 20th straight home win.
"I had a talk with Michael Jordan at the All-Star game," said Dikembe Mutombo, who had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Hawks. "And the Bulls definitely respect us. Michael said they don't worry about New York. They worry about Atlanta."
Suns 131, Celtics 100
Kevin Johnson had a triple-double by halftime and Phoenix routed short-handed Boston in a meeting of last-place teams. Johnson finished with 22 points, 17 assists and 11 rebounds in only 34 minutes.
Grizzlies 106, Spurs 101
Vancouver won a season series for the first time in its two-year history, led by Bryant Reeves' 31 points. Earlier in the day, the injury-depleted Spurs found out that two-time All-Star Sean Elliott might miss the rest of the season because of chronic tendinitis in his right knee.
Pistons 96, Magic 87
Grant Hill posted his fifth triple-double of the season, including four in the last month, and helped Detroit down visiting Orlando. Hill had 31 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Hornets 113, Nets 100
Vlade Divac blocked a team-record 12 shots as Charlotte stopped visiting New Jersey. In addition to his career-high for blocks, Divac also had 18 points and nine rebounds.
Cavaliers 83, Pacers 75
Terrell Brandon had 22 points, a career-high 12 rebounds and nine assists as Cleveland won at Indiana.