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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – Cory Alexander hasn't seen a lot of action
for Orlando this season. The Dallas Mavericks saw entirely too much
of him Monday night.
|  | | Orlando's Tracy McGrady dishes off in front of the Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki. |
The seldom-used point guard keyed a decisive second-half run as
the Magic defeated Dallas 95-81.
Tracy McGrady had 23 points, seven rebounds and five assists
while Darrell Armstrong scored 21 points.
Dirk Nowitzki's 22 points and 14 points led Dallas, which had
its three-game winning streak against Orlando snapped. Juwan Howard
had 17 points and eight rebounds and Michael Finley added 14
points.
Orlando trailed by six points with 1:56 remaining in the third
quarter but outscored Dallas 21-2 over the next seven minutes.
Alexander keyed the run with seven of his season-high nine points,
including back-to-back baskets in the closing seconds of the third
quarter that put the Magic ahead 71-69.
"It gave us a quick lift," said Alexander, who entered the
game with a total of just seven points in eight games since joining
the team Jan. 29. "Small things lift the team. We were able to get
the lead and it just sparked."
Orlando coach Doc Rivers said he decided to play Alexander after
having a gut feeling on the flight home from Sunday's loss at
Detroit.
"I'm playing for the best possible person to be playing for,"
Alexander said of Rivers, his teammate on the 1995-96 San Antonio
Spurs. "I was a rookie and Doc was the old fogey on the team. He's
carried me all the way through, and it was a blessing for me to end
up here and play for him."
The Mavericks missed eight of nine shots and four consecutive
free throws during Orlando's run.
Dallas shot just 2-for-16 in the final period and scored a
season-low 12 points.
"We just didn't play well offensively all night," Dallas coach
Donn Nelson said. "And when we struggle offensively, it carries
into our defense. We pushed a number of buttons and nothing seemed
to be the answer. Four out of our five starters were 11 of 50. We
only had 15 assists."
"This is the fourth-leading team in terms of scoring in the
NBA," Rivers said of the Mavericks. "If you can play defense like
that every night, then you can win a lot of basketball games."
The game was physical and hotly contested, with 54 personal
fouls and six technicals. The last technical came when Nelson was
ejected with 1:48 to play.
Game notes
McGrady is scheduled to throw out the first pitch at the
Atlanta Braves' spring training game against Los Angeles on
Tuesday. ... Finley's 28th birthday is Tuesday. ... Nowitzki has a
chance to have the highest-scoring season ever by a European in NBA
history. Nowitzki's 21.6 points per game average is second on the
all-time list behind Drazen Petrovic, who averaged 22.3 for New
Jersey in 1992-93. ... Nowitzki's double-double was his 30th on the
season after having only 10 such games his first two years in the
league. ... Orlando's Bo Outlaw notched his 10th double-double with
14 points and 14 rebounds.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Dallas Clubhouse
Orlando Clubhouse
RECAPS
Utah 109
Atlanta 102
Miami 87
Detroit 84
Milwaukee 107
New Jersey 100
Orlando 95
Dallas 81
San Antonio 91
Vancouver 77
LA Clippers 99
Denver 86
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Bo Outlaw and Tracy McGrady work the give-and-go for an Outlaw jam.
avi: 649 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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