McGrady’s Magic Touch Produces 43

Tracy McGrady set a team playoff record with 43 points to help the Orlando Magic hold off the top-seeded Detroit Pistons, 99-94, Sunday in Game 1 of their first-round Eastern Conference series.

“This guy is arguably the best player on the planet,” Detroit Coach Rick Carlisle said. “We know that, and we know he is going to score some points and do some spectacular things. But if he goes for 40-plus in every game, it’s going to be really hard for us.”

Six Pistons tried to guard the NBA’s leading scorer, who was 15 of 28 from the field and 10 of 12 from the free-throw line.

It was a particularly impressive effort considering that Detroit had the NBA’s best defense, allowing only 87.7 points per game this season. No other team’s average was under 90.

“I felt like I could get any shot,” McGrady said.

Eighth-seeded Orlando led by 11 points with 5:22 left, but Detroit’s 14-4 run pulled it to 94-93 with about a minute to go.

“If we play with the same urgency in the first quarter that we had in the fourth, we win this game easy,” said Detroit’s Ben Wallace, who played 42 minutes after being sidelined two weeks because of an injured left knee.

McGrady -- whose 32.1-point average this season was the highest of his five-season NBA career -- made two free throws with 46.5 seconds left.

After Detroit missed two shots in the lane, Orlando’s Gordan Giricek made two free throws and McGrady scored the final point to surpass the Magic playoff scoring record he shared with Penny Hardaway.

Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is Wednesday night. The last time the Magic advanced in the playoffs, in 1996, it swept the Pistons in the first round.

Detroit’s Richard Hamilton scored 28 points in his playoff debut.

Chucky Atkins -- who like Wallace, joined the Pistons in the trade that sent Grant Hill to the Magic -- made back-to-back three-point baskets at the end of the third quarter and to start the fourth to cut Detroit’s deficit to 76-75.

That’s when McGrady, a right-hander, took over with a personal 10-0 run.

He made a three-point play on a left-handed shot, a three-pointer, two free throws and a left-handed finger roll to put the Magic ahead, 86-75.