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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Life after Grant Hill officially is under
way in Orlando, but there was little aftershock for the Magic on
Thursday night.
Orlando defeated Detroit 102-96 one day after the team announced
Hill will have season-ending surgery on his troublesome ankle.
Hill, who has played in just four games, is expected to undergo a
six- to eight-month rehabilitation.
It would have been the first time Hill faced his former team.
But he watched from the sidelines as the Magic stopped a two-game
losing streak.
Magic coach Doc Rivers didn't sense any distraction.
"I'm really proud of the guys because there is a lot of stuff
obviously going on with this whole Grant Hill thing, and for them
to be able to block it out and move on was big," Rivers said.
"This was an important game."
Darrell Armstrong had 22 points, 14 assists and seven rebounds,
and Tracy McGrady scored 26 points as the Magic defeated Pistons
for the 14th time in Detroit's last 15 games in Orlando.
Getting more of a well-rounded team contribution is something
the Magic players began thinking about during their game at
Milwaukee on Tuesday.
"(Rivers) brought us together before the Milwaukee game and
said, 'Look, this is it. This is us, Grant's not going to be here
and somebody's got to step up.' It's going to be different guys
every night I believe," reserve Monty Williams said.
The Pistons got within 97-94 on a 3-pointer by Chucky Atkins
with 21.4 seconds left. But Armstrong was fouled on Orlando's next
possession and hit two free throws with 16.2 seconds remaining.
Detroit's Jerry Stackhouse had 34 points, hitting 12-of-26 from
the floor and 7-of-11 from the line. Ben Wallace had 19 rebounds
and six points, but made only 2-of-10 free throws. As a team, the
Pistons were only 24-of-42 (57.1 percent) from the line.
Atkins finished with 16 points, but hit only 5-of-14 shots. Dana
Barros had 11 points and Joe Smith and Mateen Cleaves 10 apiece for
the Pistons.
Williams scored 15 points, including six at the start of the
fourth quarter, to put Orlando ahead 86-76 with 9:07 remaining.
Armstrong's 3-pointer with 4:15 remaining in the third quarter
gave Orlando its biggest lead at 70-60. Cleaves made consecutive
field goals in the final 59.5 seconds to close the Magic's lead to
78-72 heading into the final quarter.
"It was a long game and we had some things go wrong," Detroit
coach George Irvine said. "If we would've hit more of our foul
shots, then we would have been a heck of a lot better off. Those
missed free throws came back to bite us. They were the difference
in the game."
Wallace said Detroit also got too relaxed down the stretch.
"We stopped doing what we were doing to get up, kind of eased
off a little bit," Wallace said. "We started going through the
motions instead of making hard cuts. We relaxed and let them get
the ball in their sweet spot. It's hard to stop anybody from
scoring if they catch the ball where they want to catch it."
A 3-pointer by Atkins tied the game 39-39 with 6:16 remaining
before halftime. McGrady scored six of the Magic's next seven
points as Orlando led 46-39. Detroit outscored Orlando 12-9 from
there to trail 55-51 at the half.
Game
notes
Detroit activated forward Jerome Williams (sprained
ankle) and placed rookie forward Brian Cardinal (knee tendinitis)
on the injured list. Williams missed 10 games after being
inactivated Dec. 9. ... Andrew DeClercq made his first start in 17
games this season for Orlando. ... Armstrong's 14 assists tied a
career high.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Detroit Clubhouse
Orlando Clubhouse
RECAPS
Milwaukee 107
Cleveland 89
Boston 112
New Jersey 111
Orlando 102
Detroit 96
Dallas 105
LA Clippers 96
Minnesota 88
Atlanta 81
Portland 103
Utah 102
Chicago 105
San Antonio 104
Toronto 94
Denver 93
LA Lakers 115
Phoenix 78
Sacramento 91
Charlotte 87
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Jerry Stackhouse Official Site
Tracy McGrady Official Site
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