Orlando Magic Team Report - March 2

(Basketball News) - The Orlando Magic’s misery continued on Monday at the FleetCenter, as they found themselves on the wrong end of a 117-96 decision against the Boston Celtics.

Tracy McGrady paced Orlando with 29 points and also grabbed eight boards. Tyronn Lue contributed 14 points and 11 assists and Keith Bogans added 14 points and eight rebounds for the Magic, who have dropped three of their last four contests.

Trailing by five at the start of the fourth quarter, the Magic were outscored 25-0 at the outset of the stanza and fell behind 1122-82. Orlando missed its first 14 shots of the quarter and went scoreless until Drew Gooden sank a pair of free throws with 4:19 left. The Magic got no closer than the final score.

Since a 19-game losing streak dropped the Magic to 1-19, they have gone 16-26.

McGrady, the NBA’s leading scorer at 27.7 points-per-game, reached at least the 20-point mark for the 47th time this season. The 24-year-old All-Star has been sensational in his last four games and has averaged 31.2 points in that span.

On the injury front the Magic were without leading rebounder Juwan Howard on Monday, as the power forward missed the game with a stomach virus.

Orlando will return to action on Wednesday when they start a three-game homestand against the Milwaukee Bucks, who have won two of three against the Magic this season. Orlando, though, has won two straight at home against the Bucks, but have lost five of their last eight as the hosts in this series.