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Tuesday, Dec. 7 9:00pm ET
Kidd scores season-high 29 points | |||||
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 GAME FLOW
PHOENIX (AP) -- The Orlando Magic love to run, but nobody can outrun Jason Kidd, especially at the end of a game. Kidd scored 17 of his season-high 29 points in the final 7:02 Tuesday night as the Phoenix Suns came back to beat the Magic 110-107. In the last 8½ minutes, he either scored or had an assist on every Suns' basket. "Jason Kidd just decided he was going to win the game," Orlando coach Doc Rivers said. The Suns only had half of their super backcourt. Penny Hardaway didn't play against his old team, sitting out his second consecutive game with a sore right foot. But Kidd was more than enough. "I've been really passive the first month," he said. "I've had some pretty good games here and there, but I've been really passive, getting everybody else involved. I want to get back to the way I was playing last season." Kidd had three of his 11 assists in the last 8 1/2 minutes, including one to Oliver Miller for a dunk that gave the Suns the lead for good, 103-101, with 1:27 to go. Kidd was 5-for-7 from the field in the fourth quarter and scored 11 consecutive Suns points in one stretch. "You can just kind of see it in his eyes," teammate Rex Chapman said. "He's going to make something happen. He's phenomenal." Phoenix took control with a 10-0 run after falling behind 97-91 with 2:20 to go. Darrell Armstrong led six Orlando players in double figures with 16. Rookie Corey Maggette matched his career-best with 14, and Chris Gatling also scored 14 for the Magic on the final stop of a four-game road trip. The Suns got strong games off the bench from Todd Day, Rodney Rogers and Miller. Day scored 19 before leaving with a strained groin. Miller had 17 and Rogers 16. The Magic led 97-91 on Maggette's rebound basket of Gatling's missed free throw with 2:20 left. But Kidd's three-point play, followed by his underhand layup in traffic, cut it to 97-96 with 3:59 left. Chapman capped the decisive surge with two free throws that put Phoenix up 107-101 with 45.7 seconds remaining. The Magic committed 28 turnovers, while the Suns had 21. "We gave that one away," Rivers said. "It wasn't like the turnovers were caused by the defense. It was just bad decision-making." Orlando outscored the Suns 17-5 to start the third quarter, taking a 71-65 lead on Bo Outlaw's rebound stuff with 5:16 left in the period. The teams were tied 80-80 entering the final quarter. Day came off the bench to make four of his first five shots, including two 3-pointers, as the Suns built a 45-39 lead with 9:51 left in the first half. Orlando got back in it with an 11-0 run to cut the lead to 56-54 on Maggette's 18-footer with 29 seconds left in the half, but Oliver Miller scored four points in the final 10 seconds of the half to boost the Suns' lead to 60-54 at the break. Game notesCoach Danny Ainge said he didn't know when Hardaway would be back but hoped it would be sometime next week. ... Kidd was 10-for-14 from the field. ... Phoenix is 8-1 against the Eastern Conference. ... The Magic finished their four-game road trip 2-2. ... The Suns shot 55 percent from the field in the first half but were outrebounded 24-16. ... Phoenix shot 58 percent in the first quarter but made just 2-of-15 to start the third quarter. ... The Suns' Tom Gugliotta was 1-for-9 from the field and scored two points. ... Chapman, starting in place of Hardaway, was 3-for-13. ... In his first game against his former team, Orlando's Pat Garrity was 1-for-8 from the field and scored four points. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Orlando Clubhouse Phoenix Clubhouse RECAPS Toronto 101 Cleveland 98
Phoenix 110
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