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Thursday, Nov. 9 8:30pm ET
Mercer, Bulls give McGrady rude welcome

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

CHICAGO (AP) -- Tracy McGrady is no longer welcome in Chicago.

Ron Mercer
Chicago's Ron Mercer wins the rebounding battle with Orlando's Monty Williams Thursday night.
Still irked that he spurned the Chicago Bulls after they wined and dined him and even introduced him to Sammy Sosa at Wrigley Field, fans booed McGrady every time he got near the ball Thursday night.

As if that wasn't satisfaction enough, the Bulls played their most spirited game of the season, beating the Orlando Magic 95-90 for their first win.

"That's the loyalty of our fans," Elton Brand said. "I don't know if that affected him. It was the thought that counted."

McGrady finished with 21 points, only one below his average, but was just 9-of-19 from the line. He had two turnovers to go with his six rebounds and six assists.

McGrady almost burned the Bulls once again, hitting a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left to cut Chicago's lead to 93-90. But Khalid El-Amin and Ron Artest hit their free throws to seal the game.

"They fed off the crowd, booing me every time I touched the ball," McGrady said. "I enjoyed it, but I wish I could have got the win. It hurts."

For the Bulls, it couldn't have felt better. Expected to improve over last year's horrid bunch, they struggled in the first four games. But they came out with a fire they haven't shown this year, pushing the ball up the floor, playing stifling defense, outrebounding the Magic 58-41 and making clutch plays when they needed them.

No one came through bigger than Ron Mercer, the Bulls big pickup after McGrady, Grant Hill and Eddie Jones all dismissed them. He recorded season-highs with 23 points and 10 rebounds, and also had a steal and two blocked shots.

Michael Ruffin grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds and scored 10 points, while A.J. Guyton added 18. Marcus Fizer had 14.

"It is really encouraging that we scored 95 points and we only got a field goal out of Elton Brand, which I do not think we could have done a year ago," coach Tim Floyd said.

Brand had 13 rebounds, but scored just eight points on 1-of-10 shooting.

"As long as we get those wins, that's all I'm worried about," Brand said.

Michael Doleac and Pat Garrity added a spark for the Magic off the bench, scoring 15 and 14 points, respectively. Darrell Armstrong had 13.

The Magic had a tough loss to Charlotte on Wednesday night, and they looked sluggish starting out. No one struggled more than McGrady, who missed his first five shots and finished the first quarter just 1-of-6.

The rest of the Magic weren't much better, making just four baskets in the first 10 minutes of the first quarter.

"I wasn't so worried about the hole we dug, but more about how our offense was stuck," Orlando coach Doc Rivers said. "I changed some things for the guys before the game and it wasn't effective. I take that part of the blame for this loss."

But the Magic got themselves back into the game. A 17-4 run gave the Bulls a 19-point lead with 6:37 left in the third, but they went cold after that.

With McGrady drawing double-teams, the Magic kicked the ball to Garrity and Armstrong. Garrity's 18-foot jumper started a 12-3 run, and Armstrong's layup cut it to 70-62 with 1:05 left.

Fizer's hook shot gave the Bulls an 81-72 lead with 6:44 left, but their offense stalled again as they went almost three minutes without a field goal. McGrady converted on a three-point play, Monty Williams hit a layup, and Doleac drilled a 17-foot jumper to bring the Magic within 82-79 with 4:23 left.

But Mercer scored five points, giving the Bulls enough of a cushion to win.

"Not really," Floyd said when asked if beating Orlando had added significance because of the free agency battle the teams had this summer.

"Not when you're 0-4. We could have beaten Guam and felt good about it."

Game notes
Floyd was called for a technical with 49 seconds left in the first quarter. ... One game after breaking their 13-year, 610-game sellout streak, the Bulls sold out Thursday's game. ... The Bulls outrebounded the Magic 22-7 in the first quarter. ... Chicago never trailed in the game.


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Seattle 102
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Detroit 108
New Jersey 94

Philadelphia 84
Minnesota 82

Chicago 95
Orlando 90

Houston 85
Vancouver 78

Phoenix 88
Atlanta 79

Portland 107
Denver 91


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