McGrady’s 42 Fuel a Magic Carpet Ride

Tracy McGrady scored 42 points, including 21 in the fourth quarter and overtime, as the Orlando Magic avoided elimination and defeated the Milwaukee Bucks, 121-116, on Saturday night at Orlando, Fla.

“Right now, I’m so tired,” said McGrady, who added 10 assists and eight rebounds. “Fifty playoff minutes is a different sort of minutes. But it was either do or die.”

Game 4 in the Eastern Conference best-of-five series is Tuesday in Orlando. The Bucks lead the series, two games to one. The Magic had lost 11 consecutive games against Milwaukee.

“We finally got that big gorilla off our backs,” Orlando Coach Doc Rivers said. “Now that we’ve beaten them, we know we can.”

Ray Allen scored 27 points and Sam Cassell had 21 points and a career-high 16 rebounds for Milwaukee.

“We probably thought it was going to be easier than it was,” Milwaukee Coach George Karl said. “I thought we took this game with a degree of complacency.”

The Magic let a 14-point lead slip away in the last five minutes of regulation.

McGrady, selected the NBA’s most improved player earlier in the day, made 14 of 32 shots and was 14 of 18 from the free-throw line.

Minnesota 93, San Antonio 84--Terrell Brandon had 21 points and nine assists, Kevin Garnett scored 22 and the Timberwolves got the Spurs’ Tim Duncan in foul trouble in avoiding a sweep of their first-round series at Minneapolis.

Reggie Slater, Rasho Nesterovic, LaPhonso Ellis and Dean Garrett combined for 14 fouls while limiting Duncan to 15 points and 10 rebounds. Most importantly, they kept Duncan off the court for 19 of the game’s 48 minutes because of his foul woes.

David Robinson led San Antonio with 22 points and 17 rebounds.

“There’s no question our ability to go at Timmy and get him in foul trouble had a big part in the game. . . . It helps when you only have to play one of the Twin Towers,” Minnesota Coach Flip Saunders said.

Game 4 is Monday night in Minneapolis. The Spurs lead the best-of-five series, two games to one.

Dallas 94, Utah 91--Steve Nash, playing with seven stitches in his forehead, made a go-ahead turnaround jump shot with 22.7 seconds left and Michael Finley added two free throws as the Mavericks won their first home playoff game since June 2, 1988.

Game 4 of the series, which Utah leads, 2-1, is Tuesday at Dallas.

“It’s a different series now,” said Nash, who had 16 points and seven assists. “We were positive and aggressive, but they’re the more experienced team and I guarantee they’ll play a great game on Tuesday.”

Nash, whose head was bloodied in a third-quarter collision with John Stockton, raced downcourt and, as he headed to the rim, spun back out and made a 10-foot shot to put Dallas ahead, 92-91.

Stockton then fed Donyell Marshall underneath, but Shawn Bradley got a piece of the ball and Finley grabbed it. He was fouled with eight seconds to go and made two free throws.

Philadelphia 92, Indiana 87--Allen Iverson had 32 points and the 76ers scored their final 10 points on free throws at Indianapolis to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference first-round series.

Game 4 is Wednesday night in Indianapolis.

The Pacers erased a 15-point deficit and tied the score, 82-82, with less than three minutes to play on a three-point basket by Reggie Miller, who led all scorers with 35 points.

The Pacers had a chance to take the lead, but Miller missed a shot and Al Harrington fouled Dikembe Mutombo, whose two free throws started the 76ers’ parade to the foul line.

Philadelphia did not get a field goal in the final five minutes.

“It’s a shame when you play good defense and stop teams from scoring and you don’t let them get field goals and they beat you from the foul line,” Pacer Coach Isiah Thomas said.

Around the League

The New York Knicks’ Marcus Camby missed practice for a second consecutive day and the team said he would not play today against the Toronto Raptors. Othella Harrington is expected to start in place of Camby, who has been struggling to cope with the trauma of his mother and two sisters being held hostage Monday in Connecticut. A suspect is being held on a $1.5-million bond on charges including kidnapping and sexual assault.