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Thursday, Jan. 27 7:30pm ET
Cavs get back on track, beat Magic | |||||
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 GAME FLOW
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Just because January hasn't been kind to the Cavaliers, they aren't about to let all of 2000 go to waste. Lamond Murray scored 24 points, Shawn Kemp had 20 points and 14 rebounds and Cleveland had an unusually easy time Thursday night in a 102-90 win over the Orlando Magic. The Cavs, playing their second home game following a rough 1-6 trip to the West, made 32 free throws to snap Orlando's three-game winning streak. "We're taking it month by month," said point guard Brevin Knight. "We've got two games left this month, and if we can win those, we're 7-8 with that real bad road trip." Cedric Henderson added 16 points in his fourth straight double-digit game for the Cavs, who are hoping to put together a lengthy win streak before the All-Star break to position themselves for a playoff push in the second half. The future looked pretty bleak when Cleveland staggered home earlier this week. But the Cavs are now 5-8 this month, and if they can win back-to-back upcoming games against Washington, the Cavs can look forward to the rest of the calendar year. "This is a step forward for us," Cavs coach Randy Wittman said. "Coming out of that trip and end the month 7-8 would be a good thing. Hopefully, we can take this effort on the road." Darrell Armstrong had 21 points and Tariq Abdul-Wahad 17 for the Magic, who had 28 turnovers and didn't score for two extended stretches in the third quarter when the Cavs built a 12-point lead. "Twenty-eight turnovers," said Magic coach Doc Rivers. "And I would say 20 of the 28 were unforced. We gave 20 of them away. It was an unusual game for us." And unusual for the Cavs, too. For one of the few times this season, Cleveland was able to open a big lead and finish off the job. And Kemp, who had fouled out of four of his previous six games, got the Magic in foul trouble instead. He consistently drove the lane on Orlando's frontline defenders and was able to pick up touch fouls on Charles Outlaw, Chris Gatling and Ben Wallace. Kemp finished 12-of-15 from the line. "Shawn has the ability because of his presence inside to get double-teamed and get other people involved," Wittman said. "He got us going in the first quarter and then he was able to take over." The Cavs opened the second half with an 8-0 run as the Magic went the first 5:27 without scoring. But just when Cleveland looked like it might take control, the Cavs went cold from the floor and didn't score for a 4:11 span as Orlando pullled to 63-59 on Corey Maggette's jumper. But Orlando went into another offensive funk, failing to score for another 4:17 as the Cavs opened a 76-64 lead after three. Game notesOrlando was called for 34 fouls, Cleveland 22. ... Cavs coach Randy Wittman visited center Zydrunas Ilgauskas on Wednesday at the Cleveland Clinic. Ilgauskas, sidelined since the fifth game of last season, is out for the year after having two screws inserted into his broken left foot. He went home Thursday. ... Wesley Person was back with the Cavs after missing Tuesday night's game because of the stomach flu. He played just six minutes. ... Gatling jammed his right wrist while taking a hard fall in the fourth quarter. He was to get X-rays after the game. ... The Cavs were expected to find out if rookie Trajan Langdon needs surgery on his injured right knee. .. The crowd of 10,967 was the second-smallest in Gund Arena history. There were 37 fewer people Tuesday night against Detroit. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Orlando Clubhouse Cleveland Clubhouse RECAPS Charlotte 117 Detroit 102
Cleveland 102
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