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Saturday, Mar. 11 7:30pm ET
Orlando claims third straight win | |||||||||
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 GAME FLOW
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- The John Amaechi world tour appears to be over. The Magic center's career-high 31 points, on 12-of-19 shooting, led Orlando to its third straight win, a 110-107 defeat of the Nuggets on Saturday -- the latest indication the native of Britain has found a home in the NBA.
Over the past three years, the 6-foot-10 Penn State product has played for the British Basketball League's Sheffield Sharks, the Italian League's Kinder Bologna, and the Greek League's Panathinaikos. This season, Amaechi has entrenched himself in Orlando, helping the surprising Magic become a contender for a playoff spot. "I just knew he was playing well. He played big minutes," Magic coach Doc Rivers said. "He's not a guy that usually plays that many minutes and does so well, because he's so big and he tires. The biggest thing was that he got their entire team in foul trouble by himself." Amaechi was 8-for-11 from the field in the third quarter, playing all 12 minutes in the period. At one point, he scored 12 consecutive Magic points. "I was assertive and caught it in great position. That was the key," Amaechi said. "Guys were getting me the ball in great position, and that didn't leave much guesswork for me, which is nice. I don't have to be really good at what I do, because I get it so deep and I'm so wide open for jump shots that there's not a tremendous amount of skill required on my end. "I just have to finish." Amaechi did that repeatedly Saturday, but was upset the Magic let Denver back in the game and were nearly forced into overtime. "It was disappointing to not finish them off," he said. "We wasted a lot of extra energy considering we have another game tomorrow." Orlando will take on New Jersey in a key Atlantic Division game Sunday.
Antonio McDyess led Denver with 35 points. "He was exceptional tonight," Rivers said. "When he's stepping out at 16 and 18 feet, making turnaround jump shots, he's unstoppable." A 3-pointer by George McCloud (25 points) pulled Denver to within 110-107 with 1:09 left, but Chris Herren's 3-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark. Game notesOrlando's Ron Mercer, acquired in a February trade with the Nuggets, missed his third straight game with a high ankle sprain. Of the five players involved in that deal, only Denver's Chris Gatling played. ... Tariq Abdul-Wahad missed his fourth consecutive game with a sprained wrist, while Orlando's Johnny Taylor and Chauncey Billups are both on the injured list. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Denver Clubhouse Orlando Clubhouse RECAPS Atlanta 91 Vancouver 86
Orlando 110
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