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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- John Amaechi was dominating against
Cleveland, but didn't want to make too much of it.
|  | | Orlando's John Amaechi scored 22 of his game-high 26 points in the first half Saturday. |
Amaechi scored 10 of Orlando's first 14 points en route to a
26-point performance and connected on 11 of 14 shots as Orlando
maintained its early momentum in defeating Cleveland, 111-92
Saturday night.
"It's foolish to have a false sense of superiority over one
name and then think it won't come back with backlash when you play
against Shaquille O'Neal or somebody else," Amaechi said in
reference to being defended by Cleveland's Clarence Weatherspoon.
"You don't want to get involved in those 'where do I stand in the
hierarchy' type questions.
"I'm not an ESPN ranking. I don't worry about that stuff. If I
did, I just know it wouldn't be very high."
Weatherspoon had little help down low with Cleveland center
Zydrunas Ilgauskas not traveling with the team after injuring his
left foot against Miami on Friday night.
Orlando coach Doc Rivers, however, has little sympathy for any
team playing without an injured player. He has only had Grant Hill
for four games this year after the Magic made him and Tracy McGrady
its two biggest offseason acquisitions.
"Someone said before the game, 'Hey, Ilgauskas is out.' I said
'Don't cry to me,' " Rivers said. "We have our injury problems
ourselves. I don't want to hear about anyone else's.
"John Amaechi was big tonight. He knew we were going to get him
down low, give him the ball and they didn't double team him early.
John Amaechi got everything he wanted, so that was big and
important for us."
After winning six consecutive games, Cleveland has dropped its
last three, all on the road.
Cleveland only got within single digits of Orlando once in the
second half when Matt Harpring's basket at the beginning of the
third quarter cut the Magic's lead to 56-48. Orlando went on to
lead by 19 points twice in the third quarter and held an 81-63 lead
heading into the final quarter.
Cleveland coach Randy Wittman was unhappy with his team's effort
and said lineup changes could be in order.
"Players are going to have to look at themselves in the
mirror," Wittman said. "I'm going to play guys that not only play
hard during games but play hard in practice as well. There are guys
that don't feel they need to work on their games. If they're not
willing to work, until they do, we're going to look to play other
people.
"We can't let things continue to slip and we've had some
slippage definitely. It's cost us on this trip."
Amaechi was one of six players to reach double figures for
Orlando, which has won its last three games. McGrady finished with
17 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and three blocked shots. He
came into the game averaging 25.8 points a game, but had only two
in the first half after hitting 1-of-5 field goals. He finished the
game making 5-of-18 shots and 7-of-8 free throws.
Darrell Armstrong had 13 points, Pat Garrity 12, Bo Outlaw 11
and Michael Doleac 10. Outlaw also had nine rebounds, four assists
and two blocked shots. Orlando shot 51.2 percent in the game and
made 22-of-26 free throws.
The Cavaliers were led by Harpring, a former Magic player who
had a career-high 22 points. Chris Gatling, who also played for
Orlando last season, came off the bench to score 19 points and
Weatherspoon had 18.
Starters Lamond Murray and Andre Miller were a combined 5-of-21
from the field for Cleveland, which shot 41.5 percent in the game.
"We were playing very well as a team," Harpring said. "Now
with a slight thing like having 'Z' (Ilgauskas) out and a new guy
in the lineup, it was different. We are so used to 'Z.'
"We will regroup and come back. It is just unfortunate we had a
back-to-back and had no time to prepare through practice."
Game notes
Orlando's 111 points eclipsed the season-high 107 it scored
against Atlanta on Nov. 4. ... Orlando scored 24 points off 15
Cleveland turnovers. ... Orlando made 15 of 19 field goals in the
first quarter (78.9 percent) which was the team's highest
percentage this season in a quarter.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Cleveland Clubhouse
Orlando Clubhouse
RECAPS
Atlanta 91
Indiana 87
Charlotte 88
San Antonio 84
Detroit 106
Chicago 93
Miami 86
New Jersey 80
Orlando 111
Cleveland 92
Utah 98
Minnesota 92
Golden State 95
Houston 87
Milwaukee 104
Boston 99
Phoenix 102
Denver 93
Portland 87
Washington 70
LA Clippers 92
Vancouver 90
Sacramento 97
Seattle 92
AUDIO/VIDEO
 John Amaechi hits the baby hook over the Cav's defense.
avi: 372 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Tracy McGrady Official Site
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