Orlando Magic Team Report - February 19

(Basketball News) - Tracy McGrady topped the 40-point mark for the second straight game, as his 43 points led the Orlando Magic to a 90-77 victory over the Utah Jazz at TD Waterhouse Centre on Wednesday.

McGrady, who needs only 12 points for 10,000 in his career, also pulled down eight rebounds, while Juwan Howard netted 20 and grabbed nine boards. Gordan Giricek came off the bench to chip in 15 as the Magic snapped an eight-game losing streak. McGrady poured in 41 points in Tuesday’s loss to Milwaukee.

Howard hit a jumper with 4 1/2 minutes into the third to put Orlando up by 11 at 48-37. The Jazz fought back with an 8-2 run over the next 2 1/2 minutes, sparked by a fadeaway baseline jump shot from DeShawn Stevenson, to only trail 50-45.

McGrady answered Utah’s run by scoring Orlando’s next 10 points, as the Magic eventually built a 63-48 advantage with 2:11 left in the quarter. Giricek hit a layup with only a few seconds remaining to give the Magic a 68-53 lead at the end of three.

McGrady hit a hook shot in the lane with eight minutes left in the game to put the Magic up 77-60, but the Jazz went on a 9-0 run, capped by a Andrei Kirilenko three-pointer from the baseline, to get within 77-69.

However, that was the closest Utah got, as Howard followed with a jumper from the elbow and McGrady converted a layup on Orlando’s next possession to give the Magic a 14-point advantage with 3:56 left.

The Magic are off until Friday when they host the Denver Nuggets.