Jordan-Like Effort for McGrady
The 17,248 fans at T.D. Waterhouse Centre bought their tickets to Friday night’s game thinking they would see Michael Jordan. Although he stayed home with a bad knee, the sellout crowd still witnessed a Jordanesque performance.
Tracy McGrady scored a career-high 50 points as the Orlando Magic ended a four-game losing streak with a 99-96 win over the Washington Wizards at Orlando, Fla.
“It means a lot, especially when you get your career-high and you win,” said McGrady, whose previous best was 49 points. “It’s a great feeling.”
The last time an Orlando player topped 50 points was April 20, 1994, when Shaquille O’Neal scored a franchise-record 53 points against Minnesota.
McGrady broke a 96-96 tie with an eight-foot leaner with 13 seconds left.
“The best part was he just took it at full blast,” Orlando Coach Doc Rivers said. “He never broke stride, and his thought was, ‘I have to get to the basket and someone is going to have to make a great play to stop me.’ And that was great.”
After the Wizards’ Tyronn Lue missed a potential game-tying shot, McGrady reached 50 points with a free throw with 0.8 seconds left. He had 15 points in the fourth quarter
McGrady shot 18 for 29 from the field, including four for seven on three-point attempts. He also had 10 rebounds.
“I told my boys before I left the house, ‘I’m getting at least 40 tonight,’” McGrady said. “I came out strong, my shot was feeling good, my legs were feeling fresh.”
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Sacramento 99, Charlotte 87--Peja Stojakovic scored 13 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter and Chris Webber had 20 points to lead the Kings at Sacramento.
Vlade Divac had 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists before getting ejected as the Kings finally broke open a close game with a defensive stand in the fourth quarter. The Kings, the only team yet to lose three consecutive this season, ended a two-game losing streak for the fifth time.
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Portland 82, New Jersey 73--Bonzi Wells scored 21 points and Rasheed Wallace had 18 at Portland, Ore., as the Trail Blazers won their 12th consecutive.
Kenyon Martin scored 19 points, Kerry Kittles had 16 and Jason Kidd had 10 points and seven assists for New Jersey, the Eastern Conference leaders. But the Nets are 0-3 on a Western road trip that ends today in Seattle, and they have dropped five out of six and 10 of 17.
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Toronto 83, Miami 74--The Raptors, despite playing without Vince Carter for much of the first half because of foul trouble, ended a 13-game losing streak with a victory at Miami.
Toronto, winning for the first time since Feb. 7, ended Miami’s four-game winning streak. The Heat lost for only the second time in eight games.
Antonio Davis scored 23 points for the Raptors. Carter, who played only six minutes in the first half after picking up three fouls, scored 16 points in 27 minutes.
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Philadelphia 109, Indiana 100--Allen Iverson broke the 40-point barrier for the fourth time in five games, scoring 41 in the 76ers’ victory at Philadelphia.
Jermaine O’Neal had 25 points, and Jonathan Bender had 17 for Indiana, which has lost two consecutive since Reggie Miller returned from a two-game suspension for a fight with Kobe Bryant. Miller had 15 points.
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Boston 117, Detroit 92--Paul Pierce scored 31 points and Antoine Walker had 24, and both made three-pointers during a 16-3 run that lifted the Celtics at Boston.
Pierce, Walker, Walter McCarty and Rodney Rogers had three-pointers, and Pierce and Walker also had layups during a spurt that gave the Celtics a 78-60 lead in the third quarter.
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Golden State 108, Houston 95--Jason Richardson returned from an ankle injury to score 32 points as the Warriors won at Houston.
Richardson, who sprained his left ankle March 1 and missed the previous two games, showed few ill effects in his 36 minutes as the Warriors ended a 13-game road losing streak.
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Cleveland 115, Milwaukee 109--Andre Miller scored 31 points and played all 53 minutes as Cavaliers won in overtime at Milwaukee.
Ricky Davis scored 21 points for Cleveland, including a jumper with 26.6 seconds left in overtime to give the Cavaliers a 111-107 lead.
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Phoenix 81, Minnesota 76--Stephon Marbury scored 28 points and Kevin Garnett of the Timberwolves managed only four as the Suns rallied at Phoenix.
It was the second time in 15 games that Garnett has been held to single digits after a streak of 338 double-digit contests. Garnett had a season-high 18 rebounds, but only one in the fourth quarter.
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New York 85, Utah 79--Latrell Sprewell had two steals and six of his 19 points in the last 2:29 at Salt Lake City as the Knicks ended a six-game road losing streak.
Sprewell made two free throws with 10.7 seconds to play, giving New York an 83-79 lead.
He then stole Bryon Russell’s inbounds pass and made two more foul shots to seal the victory, the Knicks’ first over the Jazz in the last nine meetings.