RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Orlando's Tracy McGrady played as poorly as
he felt in the first half of Tuesday's game against the Boston
Celtics.
McGrady shot 2-for-10 in the first half and was bent over on the
sidelines late in the second quarter. He returned in the second
half and shot 12-for-18 en route to 29 points as the Magic beat the
Celtics 101-98.
"First half, I was lightheaded and my stomach was bothering me
a little bit," said McGrady, who has scored 20 or more points in
13 of 16 games. "I came in at the half, calmed myself down, got
something to eat and I was ready to go.
"I came out the second half with a different mentality. My goal
was to take over the game."
McGrady did just that as his turnaround jump shot at the 3:55
mark gave Orlando a 94-86 lead. McGrady had 15 points in the final
quarter.
Magic coach Doc Rivers said there was no way his best player
would miss any time because of illness.
"I thought he was going to die a couple of times in the
timeouts, so I decided to play him 45 minutes," Rivers said,
laughing. "My thought was if you take him out, he probably can't
come back, so I was just going to let him stay out there until he
told me he needed to come out."
The Celtics cut into Orlando's lead with three 3-pointers in the
final 2:12 and trailed 99-98 with 6.7 seconds remaining. Orlando's
Troy Hudson, fouled immediately after Paul Pierce's 3-pointer, made
both free throws to put the Magic ahead, 101-98.
After a timeout, the Celtics got the ball to Antoine Walker,
whose 3-point attempt with 2.1 seconds remaining bounced off the
rim.
"I got a good look at the basket," Walker said. "Chris (Carr)
set a good screen. I got the ball. At that point, you are just
hoping and praying."
Walker led Boston with 26 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
Pierce had 23 points and Bryant Stith had 11.
The Celtics, who have dropped four of their last six games, shot
50.7 percent, including 10-for-24 from 3-point range.
Coach Rick Pitino was not disappointed in his team's effort.
"The things that we did, intelligence wise, offensively and
defensively ... this is the first time in a long time that we have
done that; making the extra pass, making the right moves, executing
the play, making the great defensive stops," Pitino said. "I was
really pleased with our ballclub.
"I thought we were good enough tonight to come away with a road
victory but they were a little bit better."
Orlando's John Amaechi and Michael Doleac had 16 points each and
Pat Garrity added 12.
Garrity made a 3-pointer and a foul shot to put Orlando ahead
48-47 with 3:05 remaining in the first half. The Celtics answered
with a 9-0 run, but Darrell Armstrong hit consecutive layups to
trim Boston's lead to 56-52 at the half.
Walker had 13 points, seven assists and six rebounds in the
first half. Garrity led Orlando with 12 points.
Game notes Orlando rookie Mike Miller committed three fouls in the
span of 1:07 to start the second quarter. He never returned to the
game. ... The game featured 14 lead changes and 12 ties. ...
Orlando scored 21 points off 18 Boston turnovers. ... Walker had
his ninth double-double of the season. ... Boston has not defeated
the Magic in Orlando since April 1, 1998.
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NBA Scoreboard
Boston Clubhouse
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RECAPS
Indiana 88 New Jersey 64
Miami 100 Atlanta 92
Cleveland 71 Charlotte 66
Orlando 101 Boston 98
Minnesota 100 Chicago 90
Sacramento 81 San Antonio 75
Houston 109 Dallas 102
Utah 98 Toronto 84
Vancouver 91 Detroit 83
LA Lakers 96 Philadelphia 85
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