Magic

T-Mac works Magic

MAGIC 99, PISTONS 94: The guard scores 43, a franchise playoff record, as Orlando takes Game 1.

By RYAN MOLONEY
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 21, 2003

[AP photo] Tracy McGrady, shooting over Detroit center Clifford Robinson in the second half, sums up his game mentality: "If I score 40, I think it gives us a chance to win the ballgame."

Give the ball to Tracy McGrady and watch.

McGrady scored 43, a franchise playoff record, to hold off the Pistons 99-94 Sunday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference best-of-seven opening series. McGrady topped the mark of 42 he shared with former Orlando player Penny Hardaway.

The output of McGrady, whom Pistons coach Rick Carlisle called "arguably the best basketball player on the planet," helped further prove a theory put forth by Orlando on Christmas. If McGrady scores 40 or more against the Pistons, the Magic wins. McGrady scored 46 in a 104-99 win over Detroit on Dec.25, but scored 20 and 35 in losses to the Pistons during the second half of the season.

"If I score 40, I think it gives us a chance to win the ballgame," McGrady said."I don't want to score 40 and still lose by 15 or 20 -- I'm not doing my job."

Instead of double- and triple-teaming McGrady, the Pistons guarded the league's regular-season scoring champion one on one. Conversely, it looked like a one-on-five game in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter as McGrady outscored the Pistons 12-5.

"That's who he is," coach Doc Rivers said. "We just try to get him the ball and some floor space."

Forward Drew Gooden cleared a little floor space, complementing McGrady with 18 points and 14 rebounds. The rookie Rivers called the team's "X factor" last week silenced criticism about the February trade that brought him and forward Gordan Giricek from Memphis for Mike Miller and the team's lack of playoff experience.

"It's crazy because we're younger than we were in the past," McGrady said. "This team is focused, mentally we were ready and physically we're healthy."

The Pistons had not matched up against Gooden since the second game of the season when the forward, then of the Grizzlies, scored 21 in a losing effort.

"That kid's been good since the beginning," Pistons forward Michael Curry said.

The fourth quarter was a melding of McGrady's skills, Orlando's playoff inexperience and what Rivers called the team's "mental toughness." The Pistons, who shot 31.6 percent from the field, climbed within one point after guard Chucky Atkins hit 3-pointers to end the third quarter and start the fourth. McGrady then heated up for his 12-point spree and helped build a 90-79 lead with six minutes left. But the Pistons went on an 8-2 run before Darrell Armstrong's jumper gave Orlando a seven-point lead with less than three minutes left.

Instead of working the clock, the Magic rushed shots as the Pistons drew fouls. Detroit made six straight free throws inside 1:30, with Chauncey Billups' two bringing the Pistons within 94-93.

"We showed some youth in that one little stretch," Rivers said. "There were two or three chances where I thought we had a chance to get the ball back into T-Mac's hands and we went away from it.

"The mental toughness part of that was to come back down on that other end and get a couple key stops and hang in there."

Two of McGrady's free throws gave the Magic a 96-93 lead with 50 seconds left. Giricek, who played seven minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, sank two more free throws in the closing seconds to secure the win.

Giricek's troubles in the first half, and the resulting playing time for Orlando's reserves, placed the spotlight on another area of intrigue entering the game: bench scoring. Despite forward Pat Garrity's limited effectiveness because of a bruised pelvis, Orlando's bench outscored Detroit's 28-16. The Pistons led the league in bench scoring this season, averaging 34.1.

"I saw on the front page of the newspaper today that Detroit's bench is deeper than Orlando's bench," Gooden said. "To me, I saw the same guys out there the whole game and we rotated so many different people into the game."

Detroit's Ben Wallace, who was questionable with a sprained knee, did play, finishing with seven points and 13 rebounds in 43 minutes.

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