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ORLANDO - Tracy McGrady turned into a punter, earning an ejection that provided the kick in the pants the rest of the Magic needed.
McGrady was booted after twice kicking the ball into the stands, but Juwan Howard scored 24 and Drew Gooden had 16 points and 12 rebounds to help Orlando to a 102-98 win over Denver on Friday night.
Orlando, which was 0-8 this season when McGrady played less than 30 minutes, showed the same resiliency as the ball that rocketed off McGrady's foot.
"I guess it got us hyped up and amped up to go out there and play," Gooden said.
Gooden, with 10 points and six rebounds in the fourth quarter, posted his 14th double double of the season. His biggest basket came on a hook over Marcus Camby for a 95-92 lead with 45.6 seconds left.
On a night when he reached 10,000 career points, McGrady finished with 15 - his fewest since going scoreless Dec. 19 when he hurt his back in the first quarter.
"I couldn't care less about 10,000 points," McGrady said. "I was frustrated, so I had to get us going some way, whether it was getting a tech, getting ejected, kicking balls out of the arena. It didn't matter."
Carmelo Anthony scored 35, only four in the fourth quarter. Nene had 15, and Camby added 12 points and 20 rebounds. Denver had its three-game win streak snapped.
Behind Gooden, the Magic's bench outscored the Nuggets' 44-17 and outrebounded them 37-4. DeShawn Stevenson scored 10 in his first game since being acquired from Utah for guard Gordan Giricek.
At 24 years, 272 days, McGrady is the second-youngest player to surpass the 10,000 mark. Kobe Bryant was 24 years, 193 days when he did it.