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Tuesday, Dec. 5 7:30pm ET
McGrady plays through illness

RECAP | BOX SCORE | 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.
NBA Scoreboard

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Indiana 88
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Orlando 101
Boston 98

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Chicago 90

Sacramento 81
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Houston 109
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Utah 98
Toronto 84

Vancouver 91
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LA Lakers 96
Philadelphia 85


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