Artest’s Tantrum Is Not the Only Loss for Pacers

Latrell Sprewell finally had a breakout game for the New York Knicks, but his performance was upstaged by the Indiana Pacers’ Ron Artest, who took out his frustration by grabbing a $100,000 television camera and smashing it to pieces.

Artest’s postgame tantrum deflected some of the attention from Sprewell, who had 25 points with seven assists, five rebounds and three steals Friday night to lead New York to a come-from-behind 98-96 victory over Indiana at New York.

“Tough loss, I guess,” said MSG Network cameraman Mike Miner, who was filming Artest in the tunnel leading from the court when he stormed off. After grabbing a television monitor and throwing it, Artest approached Miner and yanked the high-definition camera away from him.

“He lifted it over his shoulder and smashed it to the ground,” Miner said. “I was a little rattled by the whole thing, but I’m OK.”

Officials with the cable network said the camera’s lens alone was worth about $60,000.

Artest stormed out of the arena a few minutes later and did not comment.

“Obviously, Ron is an emotional guy and hopefully he’ll learn from it,” teammate Jermaine O’Neal said. “I’m pretty sure the bill will help him learn from his mistake.”

Denver 94, Seattle 82 -- Juwan Howard scored 20 points at Seattle as the Nuggets ended a losing streak at 10 games.

Utah 118, Milwaukee 115 -- Mark Jackson made a three-point basket with 35 seconds left at Milwaukee as the Jazz held off a late charge by the Bucks.

New Orleans 100, Orlando 89 -- Jamal Mashburn scored 22 of his 29 points in the second half and had nine assists at New Orleans as the Hornets ended a losing streak at five games. Tracy McGrady scored 40 for Orlando.

San Antonio 98, Golden State 95 -- Tim Duncan scored a season-high 37 points on 14-of-18 shooting at San Antonio as the Spurs defeated the Warriors the 11th consecutive time.

Cleveland 81, Toronto 80 -- Ricky Davis scored 29 points, including two free throws with 2.2 seconds remaining, as the Cavaliers ended a 14-game road losing streak.

New Jersey 100, Miami 80 -- Richard Jefferson scored 26 points and Jason Kidd got his 15th double-double at Miami as the Nets won their eighth game in a row.

Portland 108, Boston 103 -- Bonzi Wells scored 19 points and Scottie Pippen added 17 at Boston as the Trail Blazers won for the ninth time in 10 games.

*

The New Jersey Nets activated guard Kerry Kittles and placed center Dikembe Mutombo on the injured list because of torn ligaments in his right wrist.... The Atlanta Hawks activated first-round draft pick Dan Dickau and waived guard Matt Maloney.... The Miami Heat placed guard Travis Best (sprained ankle) on the injured list and activated guard Eddie House.... Milwaukee Buck forward Tim Thomas is being sued by a clothing store owner who says he was dropped as the player’s agent right before Thomas signed contracts worth $18 million. The suit filed in U.S. District Court says Ahmad Matari gave cash, clothes, appliances and a car to Thomas when he was a freshman at Villanova -- in apparent violation of NCAA rules -- because Thomas had agreed to make him his agent when he turned pro. Agent Arn Tellem and marketing guru Sonny Vaccaro also are defendants. The suit says they pressured Thomas to drop Matari as his agent weeks before the 1997 NBA draft.