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Thursday, Jan. 11 7:30pm ET
Magic shut down Marbury, Nets

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- The 1-2-2 trap that Orlando Magic coach Doc Rivers used to stop Stephon Marbury in the second half did better than expected. It took all the New Jersey Nets players out of the game.

Tracy McGrady
New Jersey's Stephen Jackson tries to hold the line against Orlando's Tracy McGrady.
Tracy McGrady put on a fourth-quarter show by scoring 11 of his 36 points and the Magic's gimmick defense limited the Nets to seven second-half baskets as Orlando posted a 101-87 win on Thursday night.

"The trap wasn't to force turnovers," Rivers said. "The trap was to take the ball out of Stephon Marbury's hands, who we had no answer for in the first half."

The Magic, who also got 20 points and a season-high 14 assists from Darrell Armstrong, had all the answers in the final 24 minutes. They forced 15 of the Nets' 20 turnovers and outscored them 46-22 after falling behind by 10 points early in the third quarter.

The result on Marbury was just as good. He had 20 points, but just three in the second half.

"They let a 1-2-2 trap take them out of the game," said Nets coach Byron Scott, who waited almost 35 minutes before talking to the media. "We got passive. We got selfish."

Scott also used the words stagnant, careless and scared. And then he got angry when asked if his team could win 38 games, a goal he set earlier in the day.

"Watching this makes me doubt if we got the guys in there with enough heart to play hard enough every night. That's what watching this does for me," Scott said.

It wasn't hard watching McGrady as the Magic snapped a four-game losing streak by beating the Nets for the third time in four games. McGrady, 21, shot 14-for-27 from the field and took over after Johnny Newman converted a three-point play to tie it at 81 for New Jersey.

"Tracy is terrific," Rivers said. "He sees double teams every night, still he is looking to pass the ball to an open teammate. He doesn't try to take the game over unless you need it. But he certainly stepped up over the last five minutes."

McGrady gave Orlando the lead with a monster jam on the break and he stretched the lead to 85-82 with a jumper after Stephen Jackson made one of two free throws.

A tip-in by Newman got New Jersey within a point and then came the play of the game by McGrady and Andrew DeClercq.

McGrady missed two free throws, but DeClercq got inside position and got the rebound. He fed McGrady for a jumper that ignited an 11-1 spurt that featured four more points by McGrady.

"We had to do something to get us back in the game," McGrady said. "We had to stop Stephon since he initiates everything. If you stop Stephon, you stop the Nets. We were so aggressive defensively in the second half we didn't give them anything easy. That shows how well we can play defense, which is the way we have to play."

Mike Miller added 17 points for Orlando, which shot 50 percent from the field.

New Jersey shot 7-for-32 from the field in the second half. Keith Van Horn missed all eight of his shots in the half, finishing 1-for-12.

"We were never able to get into a good rhythm on offense," Van Horn said. "We never ran our normal plays and I forced up shots that I normally don't take."

Game notes
Nets guard Kendall Gill is leaving the team to have his right knee (tendinitis) examined by experts in three cities. ... Marbury picked up an early technical for arguing with official Bennie Adams. ... The Nets shot 36.5 percent from the field. ... New Jersey outrebounded Orlando 44-37. ... John Amaechi did not start for Orlando, and was replaced by Charles Outlaw. ... McGrady has led the Magic in scoring in 23 of 35 games. He has averaged 31 points against New Jersey.
ALSO SEE
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RECAPS
Atlanta 107
Golden State 96

Portland 83
Charlotte 70

Orlando 101
New Jersey 87

Houston 76
New York 75

Milwaukee 102
Dallas 94

Phoenix 93
Indiana 85

FROM
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