Orlando
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
Steve Francis had a monster game last night, scoring 30 points and dishing out 13 assists, both game-highs, to lead the Magic to an important 105-102 win over the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers and their resurgent star LeBron James, who had an impressive game himself with 28 and 7 after coming back from missing two games due to an ankle injury. Francis, however, would prove to be too much, scoring the the final 10 Magic points in the fourth quarter.
Cleveland's Jeff McInnis launched a three-pointer just after the buzzer that would have tied the game but the referees waved it off after confirming on the replay that it was late. Former Magic Drew Gooden scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds against his former team in his first meeting with them since being traded earlier this season, outplaying Orlando's star rookie Dwight Howard, who scored just 8 points and grabbed just 5 boards in his 33 minutes of burn.
Grant Hill has continued his tour of health, adding 21 points in the effort. The only other Magic players to scored in double figures were Tony Battie (14) and Hedo Turkgolu (15).
It was, as head coach Johnny Davis said, "a hard-fought but well-earned victory." Davis pointed out that the Magic were making the important plays down the stretch and that's what turned the game.
if it weren't for the one-point loss to Atlanta on Monday, the Magic would be riding a four-game winning streak.
NEXT GAME
The Orlando Magic (25-20, third in the Southeast) travel to Boston to take on their former coach Doc Rivers and his new team, the Celtics (21-24, second in the Atlantic) on Friday, February 4th, 2005. The game starts at 7:30pm Eastern and will be broadcast on WRBW and NBA League Pass.
TEAM NOTES
HAVE A QUESTION FOR ONE OF THE MAGIC PLAYERS? Submit it!Q: Steve, how much do you bench press? A: "210 lbs." Archive
INJURY UPDATE
Mario Kasun(knee) andBrandon Hunter(elbow) are on the injured list.Kelvin Cato(sinus infection) played nine minutes last night, scoring 3 points and grabbing a rebound.
Rick Brown ofThe Ledgerwrites: After a lackluster effort resulted in a last-second loss against Atlanta Monday, no one knew what to expect from Orlando on Tuesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers.Steve Francis, however, was determined not to let the Magic suffer another tough defeat. Francis scored a game-high 30 points, but the Magic still needed an instant replay to come out with a 105-102 victory in front of 15,092 at the TD Waterhouse Centre. Cleveland thought it had tied the game on Jeff McInnis' 3pointer at the buzzer but a review showed his shot came milliseconds too late.
Roger Brown ofThe Cleveland Plain Dealerwrites: Tuesday night's road game against Orlando heard a familiar voice booming over the Magic's public-address system: native Clevelander Paul Porter, a former Cavs radio play-by-play man.Porter is the longtime PA announcer for the Magic and NHL Tampa Bay Lightning, and recently received a championship ring from the Lightning, last year's Stanley Cup champions.