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Wednesday, Dec. 29 8:00pm ET
Carter contributes 21 points, 9 assists | |||||
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Rookie Anthony Carter is still young enough and bold enough to deviate from Pat Riley's plans. Carter scored the game's final four points on a drive past Darrell Armstrong and a pair of free throws as the Miami Heat defeated the Orlando Magic 109-106 Wednesday night. Carter, filling in as the injured Tim Hardaway missed his 17th straight game, finished with 21 points and a team-high nine assists. He put the Heat up 107-106 on a driving layup with 16.1 seconds remaining. "That wasn't the intended play," Riley said following his team's second victory in as many nights, "but 'AC' saw that Darrell (Armtrong) was playing off him and he took it strong to the hole and fortunately for us he hit a tremendous shot. "He is taking the responsibility and really playing well." After Armstrong missed a runner on Orlando's ensuing possession, Carter grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He made both free throws, and Armstrong's desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer was wide left. Magic guard Tariq Abdul-Wahad had put Orlando ahead with the last of his career-high 21 points on a layup with 22.3 seconds remaining as the Magic capitalized on a turnover by Carter which he quickly atoned for. With Armstrong sagging off him on defense, Carter crossed over from his right to left, got past Armstrong and connected on a floater over the outstretched arm of Bo Outlaw. "This game is going to help me out a lot," Carter said. "You cannot be tentative. It felt pretty good. Some guys live for this situation. I got my chance and I think I did a good job of stepping up and hitting those free throws too." Carter also kept the Heat in contention in the first half, scoring all 11 of his first-half points in succession and singlehandedly tying the contest on three occasions. Reserve forward Pat Garrity drew the Magic within one point, 103-102, with the second of a pair of 3-pointers he connected on in a 50-second span. Alonzo Mourning, who finished with a game-high 28 points and 11 rebounds, fouled out on Miami's ensuing possession on an offensive foul. His replacement, veteran Otis Thorpe, put Miami up 105-102 on a layup with 55 seconds left, but the Magic scored four straight points to go ahead with 23 seconds remaining. "They did their thing, they hit shots and we didn't get the stop that we needed," Armstrong said. It was the second consecutive loss for Orlando in the final minute, having lost on a buzzer-beater by Minnesota's Malik Sealy on Monday night. Chris Gatling also scored 21 points and nine rebounds to lead the Magic. Game notesArmstrong injured his right wrist in an attempt to gain control of a loose ball late in the second quarter. X-rays came up negative, and the injury was diagnosed as a sprain. ... Hardaway missed his 17th straight game with a jammed right knee, although he's eligible to come off the injured list. ... Miami forward Jamal Mashburn was also out of Miami's starting lineup, missing his fourth straight with a left ankle sprain. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Miami Clubhouse Orlando Clubhouse RECAPS Indiana 116 Atlanta 89
Miami 109
Philadelphia 97
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