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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) _ Darrell Armstrong scored 32 points and
Tracy McGrady added 24 Wednesday night as the Orlando Magic beat
the Washington Wizards 107-98 for their season-high sixth straight
victory. Armstrong averaged nearly 24 points and eight assists in leading
the Magic to four victories last week and had another big game
despite playing with a sore groin muscle. He made 10 of 15 shots,
including seven of nine 3-pointers, and had seven rebounds and five
assists. Juwan Howard led Washington with 25 points, but only had four in
the last quarter. Richard Hamilton scored 17 and Mitch Richmond had
15, offsetting 2-for-9 shooting from the field by making 10 of 11
from the foul line. The Magic, two games over .500 for the first time this season at
25-23, trailed 55-51 at the half before leading for most of the
third and fourth quarters. Armstrong made two 3-pointers during an 11-0 burst that turned a
four-point deficit into a 64-57 lead. Orlando led 79-78 going into
the fourth quarter and pulled away during a stretch in which
Armstrong delivered 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to put
the Magic up 96-88. The closest the Wizards, who have lost three straight after
winning five in a row, got in the last four minutes was nine
points. Notes: Orlando's Grant Hill, selected to start in Sunday's
All-Star game despite playing in just four games because of an
ankle injury, said he plans to travel to Washington for the
festivities. ... Armstrong has played in a team-record 180
consecutive games for Orlando, including 134 straight starts _ also
a franchise mark. ... Washington's Rod Strickland didn't make the
trip because of a sore hamstring. ... Howard celebrated his 28th
birthday ... The Magic are 3-0 against Washington this season and
have beaten the Wizards eight straight times.
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