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Brown wins debut as Orlando coach

ORLANDO -- As far as coaching debuts go, Dee Brown had to be pleased Thursday night.

The second-largest crowd in franchise history braved heavy rains to see his Miracle win a season opener for the first time, forcing 26 turnovers and pulling away from the Detroit Shock 80-66 at TD Waterhouse Centre.

The only time the Miracle drew a larger home crowd was for its first game in 1999, and though Thursday's attendance of 13,111 was boosted by a free rap concert after the game, Brown didn't mind.

"I don't know if that's for us or for Master P and Lil' Romeo, but we'll take it," Brown said. "If we keep playing this way, if we play our style and we win games, that'll bring in the fans."

The Miracle led most of the way, getting a game-best 22 points from guard Shannon Johnson and forward Nykesha Sales, who said the team already has a good chemistry with its new coach, the 33-year-old former Boston Celtics guard and one-time NBA slam-dunk contest champion.

"I think we have a good feel for him," said Sales, who hit 10 of 11 free throws. "He's very calm, works with us on a professional level, no yelling, and we respect him for that and we want to win for him."

Sales and four reserves keyed a 15-4 run that turned a 54-53 lead with 12:10 left into a 69-57 advantage that never was challenged. Backup guards Elaine Powell and Katie Douglas combined for nine points in that stretch and the Miracle's bench outscored Detroit's 18-7.

"I think we have a deeper bench than anybody in the league," said Brown, who inherited a team that went 13-19 last season. "I can bring three or four people off the bench and not worry about a drop-off in production. Our bench is going to be big for us."

Brown's pressing defense, which forced a league-best 24 turnovers per game in the preseason, forced 15 in the first half.

"The first win is good to get over with, and better sooner than later," said Brown, who took over in April when Carolyn Peck resigned to become women's coach of the Florida Gators. "With the kind of style we play with, if we play it for 40 minutes, we are going to wear some teams down."

Detroit, 10-22 last season, got a team-best 16 points from rookie Swin Cash, the second pick in last month's draft out of Connecticut.

"Swin has not only the athletic ability, but she has the big heart and desire and competitiveness coming out of the UConn program," Shock coach Greg Williams said.

L.A. 69, MIAMI 65: Mwadi Mabika scored 17, including the winning putback with 26.5 seconds left, for the visiting Sparks.

UTAH 69, PORTLAND 64: Adrienne Goodson and Marie Ferdinand each scored 19 to lead the host Starzz.

CHARLOTTE: Former NBA player and Celtics coach M.L. Carr was appointed Sting president.

-- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.

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