Eastern Conference

Orlando

Dominique puts Daly in tough spot

Dominique Wilkins is creating a problem for the Magic. Wilkins got two starts and decent minutes in the three games after Bo Outlaw injured his leg. Wilkins showed some offensive spark in two of those games, hitting 7-of-10 shots against Atlanta and scoring 12 points in 11 minutes against Dallas. Wilkins' playing time comes at the expense of Matt Harpring, who has been steady all season. Harpring doesn't have the offensive flash, but he is a good defender and rebounder. Coach Chuck Daly should be reminded that the team has been winning with defense, and Harpring should be Outlaw's primary backup.... The team signed guard B.J. Armstrong, who was released by the Lakers last week. He'll add depth to a talented backcourt that includes Penny Hardaway, Nick Anderson and Darrell Armstrong.

SEE A DIFFERENT GAME: The troubled relationship between Daly and Hardaway resurfaced in last week's loss to Dallas. Hardaway, who was shooting under 40 percent from the field, thinks he should be getting more shots. He had only nine against the Mavs and feels he should be getting around 20 per game. Hardaway wants the coaches to come up with more creative ways to get him his shots. He's thinking about halfcourt sets, however, and would be better off pushing the ball harder in transition and creating shots for himself in that situation. --Bill Fay

Philadelphia

Addition of Hill should take load off big men

Plugging in 6-9 Tyrone Hill, acquired from Milwaukee, will take some of the load away from big men Theo Ratliff and Matt Geiger the hope being the team can maintain its defensive intensity for longer stretches of time. Unless the other player acquired in the deal, swingman Jerald Honeycutt, blossoms into the shooter the team so desperately needs, it's apparent the only way the Sixers will continue to beat teams is by outworking them and keeping the scores down. Hill's arrival could keep Ratliff strictly at forward. It also might relegate rookie Nazr Mohammed, who was looking more comfortable in his brief outings, to the bench.... Coach Larry Brown says the team sent Tim Thomas to the Bucks-along with Scott Williams--because Brown reluctantly concluded Thomas would never sufficiently develop in Philadelphia. "I think with all the young players we had like Allen Iverson, Larry Hughes, Nazr Mohammed and Tim, we might've been too young. To wait for all those pieces to fit together might've been painful for a while."

SEE A DIFFERENT GAME: After failing for the third straight time to score the winning basket in the final seconds of a tie game, Iverson says he intends to do nothing different the next time that situation occurs. Apparently, he sees nothing wrong with isolating a clearout on one side of the hoop and taking on the opposition by himself. Brown, in fact, says the team is better in that instance than trying to run a play because it has so few scorers. Still, that philosophy contradicts everything he usually stands for. Brown generally relies on the team game and stresses making the extra pass and getting more players involved as the keys to winning. --Jon Marks