RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Tracy McGrady lost his composure, and the
Philadelphia 76ers made the rest of the Orlando Magic pay.
Allen Iverson scored 29 points, seven of them after McGrady was
ejected midway through the fourth quarter, and the 76ers (3-0)
remained unbeaten Friday night with an 87-80 victory over the
Magic.
| | Grant Hill had 18 points for the Magic Friday night. | Theo Ratliff had 14 points and 17 rebounds for Philadelphia,
which overcame poor shooting in the fourth quarter to win a regular
season game in Orlando for the first time since April 1, 1997.
"Last year, a game like that here at this place, we would have
lost," Philadelphia's George Lynch said. "But this year, we
stayed together. We believed in one another and everybody made
plays when we needed to."
Grant Hill had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Magic, but
was unable to carry his team after McGrady was ejected with 6:26 to
go for slapping Eric Snow in the face with an open hand.
Snow, who fouled McGrady in the act of shooting, put his hand to
McGrady's chest after the guards exchanged words and was ejected,
too. But his loss was not nearly as costly to the 76ers, who
outscored the Magic 19-8 the rest of the way to overcome a 72-68
deficit.
"I let my team down," McGrady said. "It was my fault. I'll
take the blame."
Hill was limited in crunch time by a sore left ankle that has
the Magic considering placing him on the injured list. He broke the
ankle during last season's playoffs and saw limited action during
training camp after surgery in May.
"There's a lot of emotion. Sometimes you want to think with
your heart, but you've got to think with your brain," said Hill,
who has insisted on playing after signing a seven-year, $93 million
contract this summer.
"As the game progressed I got worse and worse ... It's not good
not being yourself," the five-time All-Star added after missing
six of seven shots in the fourth quarter. "It's getting close, and
at times I am. But the time of the game I enjoy most, the fourth
quarter, the time of the game when games are won and lost, I didn't
feel like I could do the things that I know I can do. That was
pretty frustrating."
Iverson was 1-for-8 down the stretch to finish 10-for-27. Aaron
McKie added 14 points and Lynch had 10 for the 76ers, who missed
their first nine shots while committing four of their 27 turnovers
in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.
Hill was 7-of-15 from the field in 36 minutes. Darrell Armstrong
had 17 points on 5-for-19 shooting, while McGrady finished with 16
points on 5-of-18 shooting in 36 minutes for the Magic.
Orlando coach Doc Rivers felt McGrady's frustration with Snow
was more a product of a poor shooting night than anger over the
foul. Regardless, he said there was no excuse for the incident.
"If he's in the game, we don't have to go to Grant at the
end," Rivers said. "When it happened, their whole bench was
clapping. They're saying, "We'll take that trade."'
Hill sat out Wednesday night's loss to Miami after playing 33
minutes in the Magic's opening victory over Washington the night
before.
Rivers said before the game that he planned to use Orlando's
games against the 76ers and Atlanta on Saturday night to determine
if Hill should rest for perhaps as much as a month to give the
ankle a chance to heal.
Game
notes
Don Reid made his first start for Orlando, replacing Bo
Outlaw. He had four points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots ...
Philadelphia won for only the fourth time in 22 regular-season
visits to Orlando ... The Magic missed 20 of 25 shots in the fourth
quarter.
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NBA Scoreboard
Philadelphia Clubhouse
Orlando Clubhouse
Rivers facing dilemma with Hill
RECAPS
New York 80 Washington 76
Boston 93 Toronto 91
Charlotte 83 Miami 79
Philadelphia 87 Orlando 80
Sacramento 100 Detroit 93
New Jersey 92 Chicago 82
AUDIO/VIDEO
Doc Rivers feels Tracy McGrady can expect to be a target for opposing players this season.
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