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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – Orlando got defensive in the absence of
leading scorer Tracy McGrady.
The Magic defeated Vancouver 103-99 Friday night with McGrady
serving the latter half of a two-game suspension for fighting with
Sacramento's Bobby Jackson last Saturday.
Orlando went 2-0 without McGrady, winning Friday night by
holding the Grizzlies to 33.3-percent shooting in the second half.
"If we're going to be an offensive team without T-Mac, that's
going to be a difficult way of winning the basketball game," Magic
coach Doc Rivers said. "But we can be a defensive team without him
and I thought in the second half, that's exactly what we were. And
because of our defense, we scored points.
"You'll win a lot of games when you can stop teams down the
stretch and that's what we did."
Vancouver led 91-85 with 4:50 remaining, but the Magic finished
with an 18-8 run to win for the fifth time in seven games.
Darrell Armstrong had 29 points and 11 assists for his 14th
double-double of the year and Mike Miller scored 23, including
seven in the fourth quarter. Miller hit a 3-pointer with 2:15
remaining in the game that gave Orlando a 93-91 lead, the first
time the Magic led since the first quarter.
The Magic also got 10 points and 10 rebounds from Bo Outlaw, 12
points from Don Reid and 11 from John Amaechi.
"We didn't have our main guy here tonight, Tracy McGrady, but
he'll be back on Sunday, baby," said Armstrong, who connected on
10 of 15 shots. "Somebody had to make something happen. Mike
Miller made something happen, myself, Bo, everybody.
"It's fun when somebody goes out and the team just rises to the
occasion."
Vancouver was led by Damon Jones with 21 points on 7-of-10
shooting. Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 17 points, Mike Bibby had 15 and
Grant Long scored 13.
Don Reid's dunk pulled Orlando within one, 80-79, but Jones
answered with consecutive 3-pointers to extend Vancouver's lead to
86-79 with 8:26 remaining. That would be the Grizzlies' biggest
lead of the quarter as the shot only 5-of-19 in the fourth.
Vancouver cut Orlando's lead to two points four times in the
final 2:15 but got no closer in losing its fourth straight.
"We went with the same strategy, regardless that Tracy was not
playing," Vancouver coach Sidney Lowe said. "The main thing with
these guys (Magic) is that you have to outwork them. I don't care
what you do, what plays you run, what defense you run, if you are
not working at it, they are going to exploit that and they are
going to score points."
Jones led all scorers with 12 points to give Vancouver a 57-51
halftime lead. Orlando got 11 points each from Miller and
Armstrong.
The Magic led by as many as eight points in the first quarter,
but the Grizzlies twice led by 12 in the second quarter, including
46-34 with 6:04 remaining before halftime.
Game notes
Orlando is 9-1 all-time against Vancouver and has never
lost to the Grizzlies at home (5-0). ... The Magic has won 14 of
its last 17 home games. ... In its franchise history, Vancouver
still has only one road win in March. (March 6, 2001 against
Portland). ... Orlando outscored Vancouver in the paint, 40-24. ...
Jones' 21 points were a career-high. ... Armstrong was 6-of-6 from
the free-throw line and is 32-for-32 in his last eight games.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Vancouver Clubhouse
Orlando Clubhouse
RECAPS
Indiana 103
Atlanta 97
Sacramento 100
Philadelphia 79
LA Lakers 101
Washington 89
Cleveland 114
Charlotte 109
Orlando 103
Vancouver 99
Seattle 90
Chicago 80
San Antonio 95
New Jersey 86
Boston 87
Denver 83
Portland 90
Utah 87
LA Clippers 94
Golden State 76
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