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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- It wasn't so much the shots Orlando's Tracy
McGrady made, but rather the ones Denver missed -- especially in the
fourth quarter.
|  | | Orlando's Tracy McGrady hangs from the rim after dunking the ball Thursday night. |
Aided by the Nuggets shooting just 1-of-18 from the field in the
fourth quarter, Orlando defeated Denver 103-93 Thursday night
behind 36 points from McGrady.
The surging Magic decided Thursday to wait until Monday at least to bring All-Star forward Grant Hill back to the lineup. The team had hoped to have him for the game against the Nuggets.
The Magic outscored the Nuggets 27-14 after trailing by three to
start the fourth quarter.
"That's it, 1-for-18 in the fourth quarter," Orlando coach Doc
Rivers said. "One-for-18 is an amazing defensive effort. You're
going to win a lot of games. I think you're going to win them all
if you can do that."
McGrady had 36 points in making 15 of 31 field goal attempts. He
surpassed 30 points for the fifth time this season and has had more
than 20 in his last 12 games. McGrady also had a season-high 12
rebounds and four assists.
Trying to slow McGrady is a challenge not many teams have been
able to handle. He has scored 161 points in his last five games
(32.2 average).
"You try to play up on him and he goes to the basket,"
Denver's Ryan Bowen said. "You stay off him and he pulls up for
the jumper. You've just got to try to do your best when you're out
there."
Rookie Mike Miller added 19 points off the bench, connecting on
four of seven 3-pointers before fouling out with 4:22 remaining.
Darrell Armstrong had 17 points and nine assists.
Antonio McDyess led Denver with 28 points and 12 rebounds. Nick
Van Exel had 19 points and George McCloud scored 10. The Nuggets
shot 40 percent, but hit only two of 15 3-point attempts.
"I don't know if we had enough heart down the stretch," Van
Exel said. "We didn't really have anybody step up. We kept firing
but they didn't go in."
Armstrong made three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point
attempt with 3:30 remaining in the game to put Orlando ahead 91-89.
He followed with a 3-pointer on the Magic's next possession for a
five-point lead. Denver would get no closer as the Magic outscored
the Nuggets 9-4 in the final 2:06.
"That was a momentum killer," Van Exel said of Armstrong's
free throws. "We never regained control after that."
Orlando took its first lead of the second half on a dunk by
McGrady at the 10:20 mark of the fourth quarter that put the Magic
ahead 81-79.
Game
notes
The game featured nine ties. ... The Magic have won seven
consecutive games against Denver. The Nuggets have not defeated the
Magic since March 12, 1996. ... Van Exel had six assists, giving
him 4,004 in his career. ... The victory snapped a four-game losing
streak for Orlando against teams from the Western Conference.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Denver Clubhouse
Orlando Clubhouse
RECAPS
Orlando 103
Denver 93
Phoenix 104
Milwaukee 96
Minnesota 105
Washington 88
New York 86
San Antonio 83
Utah 98
Vancouver 87
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Tracy McGrady intercepts the pass then lays it in for the deuce.
avi: 602 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 FROM
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Tracy McGrady Official Site
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