Scoreless McGrady Injured in Loss

Tracy McGrady went scoreless for the first time in his Orlando Magic career in a 114-86 loss to the New York Knicks on Monday night.

McGrady, the NBA’s second-leading scorer, left at the end of the first quarter because of a strained right hip flexor and is listed as day-to-day.

McGrady said his hip has been hurting for a few weeks, but he aggravated it during warm-ups. He took two shots in 11 minutes and missed both, the first time he has been scoreless since joining the team three seasons ago.

“I’ve been playing with it for a while, but it’s real painful right now,” McGrady said. “We don’t play again until Friday so I have some time to get treatment. I don’t know how long it’s going to keep me out.”

Keith Van Horn had 19 points and 10 rebounds to help the Knicks to their first three-game road winning streak since 1996.

“The big thing for us right now is our defense,” Knick Coach Don Chaney said after his team limited Orlando to 33.7% shooting.

“We’re talking more, covering all the areas and really following the game plan.”

New York had as much success offensively as it did defensively, shooting 55% from the field.

That included 15-of-26 three-point shooting against Orlando’s zone defense.

New York led by as many 22 points in the first half and held a 92-64 lead when the starters left at the end of the third period.

“They beat us when we were in zone defense, they beat us when we were in man-to-man, they beat every defense we tried against them,” Magic Coach Johnny Davis said. “Defense is just effort, and I didn’t see much effort from our team tonight.”

Gordan Giricek had 21 points for Orlando, which tied Atlanta for the worst record in the league at 8-24.

From Associated Press