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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
WASHINGTON (AP) -- After Darrell Armstrong made the big steal in the final minute, he decided to try his spin move one more time.
|  | | Tracy McGrady slices toward two of his game-high 25 points. The Magic star also grabbed nine rebounds. |
It hadn't worked earlier against Chris Whitney, but this time Richard
Hamilton was guarding him. The Orlando Magic guard spun, got free
and launched a sky-high layup over Calvin Booth to help clinch
Wednesday's 100-96 victory that ended the Washington Wizards
winning streak at five.
"I'll tell you what -- I saw Booth coming, and I've been
watching DirecTV a lot lately," Armstrong said. "I felt like if I
couldn't get it way up there, he would've blocked it. I laid it way
up there high. Y'all should check to see if that ball's still up
there."
Armstrong had 16 points and seven assists for the Magic, who
overcame an 11-point, fourth-quarter deficit over the final seven
minutes to win their second straight. Tracy McGrady, who started
the game-winning rally with two free throws and a 3-pointer, had 25
points on 9-for-21 shooting and nine rebounds.
"Even with six minutes left, I felt good about our chances,"
coach Doc Rivers said. "We crept back in it. It wasn't an
explosion. But you could see they stopped doing what they had
done."
The Magic had plenty of heroes down the stretch. A half-court
trap stopped Washington's scoring cold for more than five minutes.
Don Reid had a particularly heroic stand, blocking Mitch Richmond
twice in one possession.
Pat Garrity then a hit a 3-pointer with 46.9 seconds to play to
give the Magic the lead at 96-94. Armstrong then poked the ball
away from Hamilton for a steal that set up his looping layup with
22.6 to go. After a Wizards basket, Troy Hudson's two free throws
finished off the win.
Booth had career highs of 18 points and six blocks and also had
nine rebounds for the Wizards and was nearly the winning streak's
newest hero. The second-year forward was serenaded by a new MCI
Center cheer -- "Boooooth" -- as he led the 18-6 run that gave the
Wizards a 74-66 lead at the end of the third quarter.
But coach Leonard Hamilton took Booth out of the game just as the Magic were rallying in the fourth. Hamilton said Booth was getting tired, but Booth didn't quite agree.
"When you're going like that, you don't really get tired," Booth said. "I think he felt he needed to change it up in case I ran out of gas."
Juwan Howard had 17 points and nine rebounds, and Whitney had 15 points for the Wizards.
Whitney made three consecutive 3-pointers to put the Wizards
ahead 91-81 with 7:20 to play before the Magic rallied to make it
close again. Whitney missed badly on another 3-pointer, and McGrady
was fouled on a fast break and made both free throws to close the
margin to one, 94-93, with 3:22 left.
The score didn't change for more than 2½ minutes. Then Garrity
finally made the big 3-pointer.
"It's one of those games that you always remember this little play and that little play," Leonard Hamilton said. "You try to figure out what happens, and they just made some shots down the stretch."
The Magic worked the backdoor with ease against a flat-footed
Wizards defense and took an 11-point lead midway through the second
quarter. Orlando was shooting better than 50 percent until late in
the period, when the Wizards went on an 8-2 run to finish the half
trailing 51-47.
Booth was a power under the basket in the third quarter as the
Wizards took the lead, but they couldn't hold it in the fourth.
Game notes
Orlando's Bo Outlaw returned to the starting lineup after a
one-game suspension for striking a referee in Saturday's game
against Miami. ... Rod Strickland, who appeared in court on a
drunken driving charge Tuesday and has lost his starting job, was
the only player on the Wizards' bench not standing and cheering
during their big third-quarter run. Strickland didn't play in the
second half, and coach Hamilton said after the game that
Strickland's hamstrings had tightened up.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Orlando Clubhouse
Washington Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 102
Indiana 96
Orlando 100
Washington 96
Atlanta 102
Toronto 97
Detroit 112
New Jersey 103
Milwaukee 116
Denver 111
Minnesota 96
LA Lakers 83
San Antonio 92
LA Clippers 70
Phoenix 101
Vancouver 92
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Tracy McGrady Official Site
Juwan Howard Official Site
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