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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
DENVER (AP) – With their homecourt advantage starting to
disappear, the Denver Nuggets' playoff chances are following suit.
|  | | The Magic's Tracy McGrady, right, looks for room around Nuggets guard James Posey. |
Tracy McGrady scored 24 of his 36 points in the second half and
had 12 rebounds as the Orlando Magic beat the Nuggets for the
eighth straight time, 93-86 Monday night.
Denver (29-29) was two games behind first-place Utah on Jan. 28,
but has since lost 11 of 14 to fall 4 1/2 games behind Minnesota for
the eighth playoff spot in the West.
"We're already in the danger zone," Nick Van Exel said.
"We've been in the danger zone for about three weeks now."
Darrell Armstrong had 11 points and seven assists to help the
Magic overcome an early deficit and snap a three-game losing
streak. Orlando gave up 30 first-quarter points before holding
Denver to 56 the rest of the way.
"It was a funny-looking win," McGrady said. "We knew we had
to get ourselves going because this was definitely a winnable game.
It was a matter of us defending. I came out hot and everyone was
playing aggressively on both ends."
Antonio McDyess led the Nuggets with 24 points and 21 rebounds.
Denver has lost three of five at home following a nine-game winning
streak at the Pepsi Center. Two of the home losses have come to
teams playing the second of back-to-back games. Orlando lost by six
points to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.
"Man, I just don't know what this is," McDyess said.
"Frustration is at a level where you don't know what to do.
Thinking about all the games we could've won and think about what
you could have or should've done in the game is not helping. It's
just making it a lot more frustrating."
The Nuggets led by 16 early, but trailed by as many as 15 in the
third quarter before rallying in the fourth. They held the Magic to
one field goal over a 10:45 span of the third and fourth quarters
and tied the game at 80 with 5:36 remaining.
McGrady scored seven points as part of a 10-3 run as the Magic
pulled away.
"It's nice having a star," Magic coach Doc Rivers said. "The
reason we lost games last year was because we had nowhere to turn
at the end of games. Now we have Tracy."
Raef LaFrentz finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and six
blocks for Denver and Van Exel added 12 points and nine assists but
committed a season-high seven turnovers.
"It was a terrible game by me, basically," said Van Exel, who
was on the bench when Denver made a comeback in the fourth.
McGrady scored 13 points as part of a 24-6 run to open the
second half as Orlando took a 15-point lead. The Nuggets countered
with a 12-2 burst and held the Magic without a field goal over the
final 5:09 of the third to pull to 72-67.
Denver led by as many as 16 in the first quarter, but the Magic
recovered on the strength of a 17-3 run and trailed 49-46 at
halftime.
"I thought the key to the game was in the first quarter when
they got up, there was no sense of panic," Rivers said. "No guys
were fighting amongst each other. We just kept playing."
Game notes
McDyess had 16 points and 10 rebounds by halftime for his
43rd double-double. Four Magic players have combined for 33
double-doubles. ... The Magic lost to the Lakers on Sunday in Los
Angeles. Orlando improved to 7-4 in the second of back-to-back
games. ... The Magic are 4-10 against Western Conference teams on
the road. ... Denver failed to score 100 points for the 10th
straight game. ... Orlando scored 21 points on 18 offensive
rebounds.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Orlando Clubhouse
Denver Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 85
Seattle 82
Charlotte 82
Indiana 72
Milwaukee 98
Philadelphia 91
Golden State 84
Chicago 78
Portland 95
Houston 89
Orlando 93
Denver 86
Utah 99
Atlanta 82
Dallas 103
LA Clippers 92
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Antonio McDyess puts back the one-handed rebound.
avi: 671 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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