Boston Celtics

Opponent: Boston CelticsSite: USAir Arena, LandoverTime: 7:30TV/Radio: HTS//WWRC (980 AM)Outlook: The Celtics have lost three straight and nine of their past 10 and own the second-worst overall record (13-54) in the league. The team has been so devastated by injuries (Pervis Ellison, Dino Radja, Greg Minor and Dano Barros have played a combined 78 games this season) that a guy named Brett Szabo has been starting at center. The Bullets have won five of their past seven and hope to gain ground on the Cleveland Cavaliers, the eighth-place team in the Eastern Conference.

LANDOVER -- It wasn't pretty, especially considering that the Washington Bullets were playing the Boston Celtics -- no longer an NBA powerhouse. But when a team is struggling, it will take a victory. Any victory.Chris Webber nearly had a triple-double (17 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists) and four more teammates scored in double figures, as the Bullets defeated the Celtics, 106-92. The Bullets ended a two-game losing streak before a sellout crowd of 18,756 at USAir Arena.Webber had help.

BaseballCleveland Indians -- Placed OF-DH Dave Winfield on 15-day DL. Recalled P Alan Embree from Triple-A.Detroit Tigers -- Activated IF-DH Franklin Stubbs from 15-day DL.Houston Astros -- Optioned P Darryl Kile to Triple-A Tucson. Purchased the contract of P Craig McMurtry from Tucson. Designated P Jamie Daspit for assignment.Oakland Athletics -- Placed 1B Mark McGwire on 15-day DL, retroactive to Aug. 5. Recalled OF Jose Herrera from Double-A Huntsville.BasketballBoston Celtics -- Announced F Dominique Wilkins bought out the remaining two years of his contract and signed a two-year contract with Panathinaikos Athens of the Greek League.

Opponent: Boston CelticsSite: USAir Arena, LandoverTime: 1 p.m.Radio: WWLG (1360 AM), WTEM (570 AM)Outlook: This is a crucial game for the Celtics, who are clinging to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Boston defeated the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday, extending its winning streak to three games. With Friday's loss to the Charlotte Hornets, the Bullets have dropped 10 straight, the league's longest current losing streak. It also matches the longest losing streak of the season for the Bullets, who are looking to avoid the franchise record 13-game losing streak set by the Baltimore Bullets during the 1966-67 season.

BOSTON -- For once, they pulled together.Reggie Lewis' mother, Inez "Peggy" Ritch, took the rope in one hand, holding her 1-year-old granddaughter, Reggieana, with the other.Lewis' widow, Donna Harris-Lewis, also grabbed hold of the rope, clutching her other child, 2-year-old Reggie Jr.They pulled together, these women who barely speak to each other, raising Lewis' No. 35 to the rafters of ancient BostonGarden.And like so much else on this night, it didn't quite seem real."Oh man, it was like your heart just shattered," Ritch said afterward as she stood crying in a hallway outside the Celtics' locker room.

BaseballMajor League Baseball -- Named Thomas Duffy vice president for finance and royalty administration for Major League Baseball Properties.Boston Red Sox -- Released P Rocky Elli, P Mike Carista, 1B Nicko Riesgo and 1B Darryl Robinson.Chicago Cubs -- Named Paul Friedman public address announcer.Florida Marlins -- Signed free-agent P Mark Gardner to a one-year contract.Philadelphia Phillies -- Signed free-agent C Lenny Webster to a minor-league contract and invited him to spring training.

BOSTON -- If there was ground to be gained by the Washington Bullets, last night was a good opportunity.The Boston Celtics were struggling, carrying a two-game losing streak. And the Celtics were short-handed, losing two key players in the third quarter.But the Celtics had enough, coasting to a 114-101 win over the Bullets before 14,890 at Boston Garden.It was the eighth straight loss for the Bullets, and the 16th over the past 17 games. Washington dropped to 7-24 (worst start in franchise history)

BasketballUtah Jazz -- Announced it will sign G Walter Bond, released last month by the Detroit Pistons, to a 10-day contract.CollegeNCAA Foundation -- Named Dave Gavitt, former Big East Conference commissioner and CEO of the Boston Celtics, president.Cal-Irvine -- Suspended G Chris Brown from the basketball team for two games.Georgetown -- Dismissed G George Butler from the men's basketball team for academic reasons.

There is one problem with breaking a record that has stood for many years. It tends to diminish the holder of the old record.That's the way it is in the wake of Lenny Wilkens' becoming the NBA's all-time winningest coach.Wilkens set the record when his Hawks beat the Bullets last weekend in Atlanta. It was Lenny's 939th career victory, one more than Red Auerbach had with the Boston Celtics.There are millions who might take that to mean Wilkens is the best pro basketball coach ever. Remember, Auerbach hasn't been the Boston Celtics' coach since 1966.

Auto racingMcLaren Mercedes -- Named Nigel Mansell driver for the 1995 Formula One season.BaseballSt. Louis Cardinals -- Bought the contract of P Chance Gledhill from the Corpus Christi Barracudas of the Texas-Louisiana League.Battle Creek Kazoos (Midwest League) -- Named DeMarlo Hale manager, Darrell Evans hitting coach, Rick Wise pitching coach and Brian Moore trainer.Mobile Baysharks (Texas-San Antonio League) -- Named former Boston Red Sox manager Butch Hobson manager.Basketball NBA -- Fined Brian Williams of the Denver Nuggets $2,500 and suspended him for one game without pay and fined Tom Chambers of the Utah Jazz $6,000 for their parts in altercations during a game played Wednesday night.

The big showdown in the new Boston Garden yesterday ended up being the entire first round of the NBA playoffs in a nutshell. Game 7 of the Boston Celtics vs. Atlanta Hawks was a dud. What happened? The playoffs have rarely been this eagerly anticipated; they weren't going to sneak up on anybody the way the past two have. After a regular season some called the best in league history, with all eight Western Conference qualifiers winning at least 50 games and with every seed up for grabs going into the final five days, this year's playoffs were going to pick up where the regular season left off, and jump up and grab everybody from the opening tip of the very first game.

June 19 1862: Slavery was outlawed in U.S. territories. 1910: Father's Day was celebrated for the first time, in Spokane, Wash. 1986: University of Maryland basketball star Len Bias, the first draft pick of the Boston Celtics, suffered a fatal cocaine-induced seizure.

There are those hard-core conspiracy theorists who believe that commissioner David Stern works the NBA like a puppeteer, allegedly manipulating results to the league's best interests. Even if that's true, not even the late Jim Henson could have worked things this well to get this wacky a result heading into the NBA playoffs, which open today. Handicapping the field in the Eastern Conference alone, where none of the top three seeds - the New Jersey Nets, Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics - were even in the playoffs last year, will require a divine skill.

Other kids might have dreamed of being like Mike, but Juan wanted to be like Reggie, the neighborhood kid who went on to Boston Celtics fame. And now Jamal wants to be like Juan. The University of Maryland's celebrated shooting guard, Juan Dixon, is a big part of the reason young basketball players run drills in a little cinder-block gym at Cecil-Kirk Recreation Center. Dixon, who led the Terrapins to their first national championship Monday in Atlanta, got his start playing on the same polished hardwood where seventh-grade shooting guard Jamal Hood practiced yesterday.

BOSTON -- The Washington Wizards' season, or at least the last week or so of it, is beginning to look like the movie Groundhog Day, where the team appears to relive the disappointment of the previous game in the next performance. The Wizards once again arrived in the fourth quarter of a contest against a solid opponent, in this case, the Boston Celtics, with a chance to win, only to fall apart late in the game, this time resulting in a 98-91 loss at the Fleet Center yesterday. The Wizards (29-33)

Opponent: Boston CelticsSite: USAir Arena, LandoverTime: 7:30TV/Radio: HTS//WWRC (980 AM)Outlook: The Celtics have lost three straight and nine of their past 10 and own the second-worst overall record (13-54) in the league. The team has been so devastated by injuries (Pervis Ellison, Dino Radja, Greg Minor and Dano Barros have played a combined 78 games this season) that a guy named Brett Szabo has been starting at center. The Bullets have won five of their past seven and hope to gain ground on the Cleveland Cavaliers, the eighth-place team in the Eastern Conference.

LANDOVER -- It wasn't pretty, especially considering that the Washington Bullets were playing the Boston Celtics -- no longer an NBA powerhouse. But when a team is struggling, it will take a victory. Any victory.Chris Webber nearly had a triple-double (17 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists) and four more teammates scored in double figures, as the Bullets defeated the Celtics, 106-92. The Bullets ended a two-game losing streak before a sellout crowd of 18,756 at USAir Arena.Webber had help.

BOSTON -- It is an hour and a half before the Chicago Bulls' first appearance in the FleetCenter and I am in search of the Boston Celtics' mystery man.Thomas Hamilton.The 7-foot-2 mountain of a man who supposedly weighs in the vicinity of 375 pounds and sits at the end of the Celtics' bench in sweaters large enough to double as tents.The same Thomas Hamilton the Celts signed about a month ago and immediately placed on the injured list with a case of strep throat. The same strep throat that never seems to go away, penicillin or no penicillin, a Celtics version of a medical miracle.

The Washington Bullets are trying to snare a point guard before training camp starts in two weeks. But in their first two cracks at available free agents, they've been shut out.First, there was Dana Barros, who yesterday signed a six-year, $20.8 million deal with the Boston Celtics -- turning down a comparable five-year offer from the Bullets. And late yesterday afternoon, Elliot Perry was on the verge of signing a six-year deal with the Phoenix Suns, one day after being offered a five-year Bullets deal.

BaseballCleveland Indians -- Placed OF-DH Dave Winfield on 15-day DL. Recalled P Alan Embree from Triple-A.Detroit Tigers -- Activated IF-DH Franklin Stubbs from 15-day DL.Houston Astros -- Optioned P Darryl Kile to Triple-A Tucson. Purchased the contract of P Craig McMurtry from Tucson. Designated P Jamie Daspit for assignment.Oakland Athletics -- Placed 1B Mark McGwire on 15-day DL, retroactive to Aug. 5. Recalled OF Jose Herrera from Double-A Huntsville.BasketballBoston Celtics -- Announced F Dominique Wilkins bought out the remaining two years of his contract and signed a two-year contract with Panathinaikos Athens of the Greek League.