McGrady, Magic Dominate

Orlando kept going to Tracy McGrady and the Magic’s winning streak remained intact.

McGrady scored 14 of his 35 points in third quarter as the Magic won its eighth consecutive game, defeating the Houston Rockets, 108-93, Friday night at Orlando, Fla.

Darrell Armstrong added 20 points and nine assists for Orlando, which can tie a franchise record for consecutive wins with a victory over visiting New York on Sunday. The Magic won nine in a row during the 1994-95 season.

Cuttino Mobley had 31 points for the Rockets, who had won four in a row. Hakeem Olajuwon had 16 points and 15 rebounds.

The Magic has defeated Houston in 12 consecutive regular-season games. The Rockets last defeated Orlando to complete a four-game sweep in the 1995 NBA finals.

“We’re going to check the water next time, because we haven’t had a good game down here since ‘95,” Houston Coach Rudy Tomjanovich said.

McGrady and Olajuwon each took seven shots in the opening quarter, and each made five. The similarities ended after that.

McGrady fired off eight shots in the second quarter and seven in the third before resting most of the final period. He made 16 of 24, with most of his scoring coming on a variety of mid-range jumpers.

“Just got my spot on the block and seemed like I couldn’t miss tonight,” McGrady said. “Yeah, I could’ve gotten 50 tonight but I wasn’t trying to get it.”

New York 114, New Jersey 104--Allan Houston scored 31 points, Latrell Sprewell added 22 and Larry Johnson had 18 as the Knicks won at New York.

Although its league-leading defense allowed an opponent to score 100 points for the fourth time in six games, New York had its highest scoring game of the season and shot 56% from the field.

Houston was 11 for 19, Sprewell made half of his 20 shots and Glen Rice came off the bench to go six for eight for 15 points as the Knicks ended a two-game losing streak and sent the Nets to their eighth consecutive road loss.

Stephon Marbury had 28 points and nine assists and Johnny Newman added 24 for New Jersey.

San Antonio 91, Minnesota 85--Tim Duncan had 26 points and 12 rebounds and Derek Anderson added 21 points at Minneapolis as the Spurs won their third in a row.

Kevin Garnett had 31 points and 16 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who have lost three in a row after winning a franchise-record 11 consecutive games.

San Antonio, which has won 11 of its last 12, made 30 of 47 free throws and moved into first place in the Midwest Division at 34-16, a half-game ahead of Utah and 3 1/2 games in front of Minnesota.

Sacramento 117, Denver 84--Peja Stojakovic scored 29 points as the Kings held the Nuggets scoreless for nearly 9 1/2 minutes in the first half and won at Sacramento.

Chris Webber, out until next week because of a sprained ankle, laughed and joked on the sideline as his teammates demolished the Nuggets with a 37-10 run that started in the first quarter and ended in the third.

Denver scored only seven points on two-of-20 shooting in the second quarter, and the Kings romped through the second half. Sacramento shot 56% from the field and forced 20 turnovers.

Vancouver 92, Golden State 79--Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 28 points and nine rebounds at Oakland as the Grizzlies matched a franchise record with their third consecutive victory.

Mike Bibby scored 17 points for the Vancouver, which ended a 15-game road losing streak.