Orlando Magic Team Report - February 21

(Basketball News) - Juwan Howard poured in 24 points to lead the Orlando Magic to a 102-98 win over the Denver Nuggets on Friday at TD Waterhouse Centre.

Drew Gooden notched a double-double for the first time since January 2 with 16 points and 12 rebounds, as the Magic won their second straight overall and 11th in a row over the Nuggets at home.

Tracy McGrady added 15 points and topped the 10,000-point mark for his career, before he was ejected from the game at the end of the second quarter for kicking the ball into the stands twice. The All-Star guard was furious following a non-foul call on one of his shot attempts and initially kicked the ball into the stands. A fan threw the ball back onto the court and McGrady ran over and drop-kicked it back into the seats.

Following McGrady’s ejection, the rest of the Magic picked up their intensity and outhustled the Nuggets in the second half.

Orlando trailed 58-55 entering the second half, but grabbed its first lead 50 seconds into the third quarter with a 59-58 advantage on a Tyronn Lue foul- line jumper.

Andre Miller laid in a basket at the other end of the court to put Denver back up by one, as the Nuggets led for the rest of the period with the exception of a 79-78 deficit with 1:16 remaining. Earl Boykins put the Nuggets back on top, 80-79, heading into the fourth quarter on a layup.

However, that was the last time Denver held the advantage. Gooden scored Orlando’s first eight points of the fourth as the Magic went on top 87-82 with 9:58 left to go in the game.

Orlando’s lead hovered between three-to-five points for the next few minutes, including a 93-88 advantage on a Howard baseline layup.

Miller and Carmelo Anthony each laid in a basket on consecutive possessions for the Nuggets to pull them within 93-92 with 1:20 left, but Gooden followed with a layup and Howard made a pair of free throws to put the Magic up by five with 29 ticks left on the clock.

Denver was forced to foul after that and Orlando put the game out of reach by making five free throws in the final 20 seconds.

The Magic are off until Sunday when they visit the Detroit Pistons.