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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
NEW YORK (AP) -- Thanks to the defensive job Marcus Camby did on
Tracy McGrady, the Knicks won their sixth straight game and held
their opponent under 100 points for the 27th consecutive time.
|  | | New York's Kurt Thomas pulls in a defensive rebound against the Magic's Andrew DeClercq. |
Camby took over the defensive assignment on McGrady in the third
quarter and held it for the rest of the night, containing a player
no one else could stop as the Knicks beat Orlando 95-92 in
overtime Thursday night.
"I used to play him one-on-one all the time, he was my little
young boy," said Camby, who was teammates with McGrady on the
Toronto Raptors during McGrady's first NBA season in 1997-98. "He
wasn't the player that he is now. Now he's like a superstar."
Camby had 22 points and 12 rebounds, but his biggest
contribution came on defense. Often forced to begin guarding
McGrady on the perimeter, Camby caused Orlando's leading scorer to
miss three shots and commit a turnover on four of the Magic's final
five possessions in overtime.
McGrady finished with 36 points, 20 of which came in the first
half before Camby was switched onto him defensively. McGrady scored
the Magic's first six points of overtime but was shut out the rest
of the way as the Knicks extended their longest winning streak of
the season.
I thought Marcus did a great job on him," Knicks coach Jeff Van
Gundy said. "He also did a good job on him last year in the
Toronto (playoff) series, so really there was nothing to lose."
Allan Houston led New York with 24 points and seven assists, and
Latrell Sprewell had 20. The Knicks won despite allowing the Magic
to score the first 15 points of the game.
Darrell Armstrong scored 15 for the Magic, who dropped to 0-5
this season when playing on national television.
Sprewell missed a drive with a minute left in overtime, but
hustled to keep the ball alive. The Knicks retained possession and
Camby hit two foul shots with 51 seconds left for a 94-92 lead.
The Magic got the ball to McGrady, as they had been doing on
every possession throughout overtime, isolated on the left side
against Camby. As McGrady drove, Camby went down and a charging
foul was called.
The Knicks couldn't get off a good shot and committed a
24-second violation with 10.5 seconds left, but McGrady missed a
runner with 3.2 seconds left as he was forced to shoot over the
outstretched arm of the 7-foot Camby.
Larry Johnson made one of two free throws for a three-point
lead, and Armstrong missed a wild 3-pointer at the buzzer after
Orlando inbounded with just 0.8 seconds left.
"I'm not going to get down on myself because I failed in this
game," McGrady said. "There's going to be some times when I
fail."
After being kept quiet for most of the fourth quarter, McGrady
hit a jumper over to give Orlando an 86-82 lead with 1:54 left.
Camby scored on a dunk on New York's next possession, then
harassed McGrady into taking a bad shot. After being fouled by Bo
Outlaw with one second left on the shot clock, Camby made both free
throws to tie the game at 86-86 with 47 seconds left.
McGrady got the ball isolated against Camby on Orlando's next
possession, but he passed it away for a 3-point attempt by Darrell
Armstrong that missed with 25 seconds left.
That allowed the Knicks to run down most of the rest of the
clock, and McGrady blocked Allan Houston's 14-footer with 2.2
seconds left to give the Magic the final shot of regulation -- a
40-footer by Mike Miller that bounded off the back rim.
The Magic took a 15-0 lead as the Knicks missed their first 10
shots, prompting Van Gundy to replace four-fifths of his lineup and
send in reserves Luc Longley, Erick Strickland, Rick Brunson and
Kurt Thomas. The Knicks quickly broke out of their offensive funk
by scoring on their next two possessions, but they finished the
quarter 3-for-21 from the field and trailed by 15.
"It was an embarrassing moment getting subbed like that down
15-0," Camby said.
The second quarter was an entirely different story as Van Gundy
went back to his normal lineup and Houston scored 15 points in the
period to help the Knicks erase their deficit.
Houston fed Thomas with a nifty lookaway pass on the fast break
for a reverse layup that gave New York a 70-67 lead entering the
fourth, but Michael Doleac hit two jumpers as part of a 10-0 run
early in the fourth that gave the Magic an 81-74 lead.
Game notes
Knicks forward Glen Rice missed his second straight game
due to a sore ligament in his left foot. ... Orlando coach Doc
Rivers took a poke at Houston, telling him "Allan, three years ago
you would have gotten that ball," after Houston tried to chase
down a ball rolling out of bounds. ... Outlaw, a 55-percent free-throw shooter, went 6-for-6 from the line.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Orlando Clubhouse
New York Clubhouse
RECAPS
Miami 81
New Jersey 78
Minnesota 105
Seattle 92
New York 95
Orlando 92
Chicago 98
Washington 96
Houston 107
Detroit 97
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Tracy McGrady Official Site
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