McGrady scored 29 points and fueled a stunning 24-4 closing run that gave the Magic an improbable 94-90 victory over the slumping New York Knicks, who endured another late collapse.
 Darrell Armstrong and Tracy McGrady celebrate the Magic's comback win over the Knicks. Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images |
This was McGrady's third game since missing three in a row with a lower back strain, an uncommon injury for a 22-year-old. However, Grant Hill's season-ending ankle injury has made McGrady the focal point of Orlando's offense -- and the target of every opposing defense.
"Hopefully, I don't have to go through this every night -- playing a guy like (Latrell) Sprewell, playing a guy like Allan Houston and carrying the load on the offensive end, and rebound," McGrady said after a postgame stretching regimen. "It really takes a toll on my body."
"It is (a concern)," Magic coach Doc Rivers said. "We're just looking for anything we can get out of anybody."
Down the stretch, the Knicks didn't get much of anything from anybody. They were booed in the final seconds as they lost for the fourth time in five games, blowing sizable leads in each defeat.
"If I could tell you (what is wrong), it would be easy to correct," Knicks guard Charlie Ward said. "We have lost a lot of games like that."
"We lost the game in the last three minutes," Sprewell added. "That's the bottom line."
The collapse actually began much earlier in the fourth quarter, when McGrady threw down a vicious one-handed hammer dunk and drew a foul. His three-point play revitalized the moribund Magic.
"It's just a dunk, but it gave us a tremendous amount of energy," Rivers said. "We were not focused, we were not doing anything, but for whatever reason, that dunk flicked the switch. It's amazing what a great play can do."
"Everybody's spirits jumped up and it was, 'Here we go,'" Orlando guard Darrell Armstrong said.
A 3-pointer by Sprewell gave the Knicks their largest lead at 86-70 with 7:40 to go before McGrady took charge, scoring 11 points in the furious finish. His 3-pointer with seven minutes to go triggered the surge and his three-point play and two free throws on consecutive possessions gave Orlando a 92-90 lead with 17 seconds remaining.
The All-Star swingman saved his biggest play for the defensive end. The Knicks tried to go to Sprewell in the low post against the smaller Armstrong, but McGrady came off Charlie Ward to deny the entry pass.
With time running down, Ward had to shoot, but the 6-9 McGrady switched back and blocked Ward's shot. Troy Hudson corraled the rebound and was fouled with 3.2 seconds left before sinking the clinching free throws.
"I was trying to play off, mess with his mind a little bit," McGrady said. "I'm so long and he's a short guy, so that's a tough pass for him. I didn't know what he was going to do, but I was right there and I was able to recover."
"I think he should get more credit for his defense than he does," Rivers said.
McGrady played 42 minutes and did not shoot well, making just 7-of-23 from the floor. But he sank 14-of-17 free throws and had team highs of 11 rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocks.
Hudson scored 15 points and Mike Miller added 13 for the Magic, who snapped a three-game road losing streak. Orlando shot under 38 percent (29-of-77), including 6-of-24 from 3-point range.
Sprewell scored 28 points and Houston added 17 -- all in the second half -- for the Knicks, who fell to 3-8 under interim coach Don Chaney.
"We're just not doing things that serve us to win," Chaney said. "We're doing the necessary thing for three quarters. For three quarters, we get there, but we're not continuing."
The Knicks went more than three minutes without a point before Sprewell's long jumper made it 88-76 with 4:32 left. McGrady answered with a drive, Pat Garrity sank two foul shots, Armstrong hit one and 3-pointers by Miller and Garrity made it 88-87 with 1:24 to play.
"I probably tried every combination we had on our team tonight, and that didn't work. And finally, we just went small and the small lineup came up big," Rivers said.
Houston, who was booed during his scoreless first half, drilled a long shot with 1:06 to go, again ending a drought of more than three minutes. The Knicks scored just 15 points in the final period, eight by Houston and seven by Sprewell.
"We made a run and you could see 'em start second-guessing themselves and start looking around for Spree and Allan to bail 'em out," Armstrong said. "Nobody was really stepping up to take shots, except those two."
McGrady spun past Sprewell for a layup and a foul with 52 seconds left. His free throw tied it, 90-90, and Garrity dove to the floor to track down Houston's miss at the other end, calling time with 34 seconds remaining.
Again McGrady drove and drew a foul from Shandon Anderson. His two from the line gave Orlando its first lead since midway through the second period and his block on the next sequence sealed the win.
"I really thought the Knicks let their guard down late in the game," he said. "We kept fighting, playing defense, executing on offense, scrambling for loose balls. We went all-out to get this game."
The Magic scored the game's first nine points but sputtered until the final period. Sprewell covered for Houston's 0-of-6 first half with 21 points as the Knicks took a 49-43 lead into the locker room.
Sprewell was scoreless in the third quarter, but Houston finally found the range, scoring nine points. New York held a 75-63 lead entering the final period.
Kurt Thomas scored 16 points, Marcus Camby added 12 and Othella Harrington 10 for New York, which shot 44 percent (35-of-80).