ORLANDO - Missing their star player and worn down by a grueling road trip, the Nuggets were no match for the Magic.
Orlando shot a season-high 58.1 percent against a road-weary Denver squad missing Carmelo Anthony and beat the Nuggets 117-95 Saturday night, snapping a three-game losing streak.
"The thing you set yourself up for is being complacent," said Grant Hill, who scored 16. "When they don't have their best player and you know this is their fourth game in five nights, you don't play, you don't bring it like you should. But, tonight, we brought it."
Orlando scored 68 points in the paint and 33 on the fast break, had six players score in double figures and tied its season best with 30 assists. The Magic twice led by 35 points. "We were simply manhandled in every phase of the game from the opening tip," Denver coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "We were not one step behind them. We were two or three steps behind the whole night, plain and simple."
Anthony, Denver's leading scorer, sat out after spraining his left ankle Friday at Miami.
"To get beat on the boards like we were, to get beat in transition like we were, to not defend the basket like we were, that had nothing to do with Carmelo's absence at all," Bzdelik said.
With a whimper, the Nuggets ended a seven-game, 11-day road trip, the franchise's longest since 1987-88. After opening with consecutive victories, running a season-best winning streak to four, they dropped four of five.
Orlando knows the fatigue that comes with the road grind. The Magic are still recovering from a six-game, 12-day West Coast trip that ended Wednesday.
"Guys are really tired, still sleepy with the time difference," said Cuttino Mobley, who led Orlando with 19 points.
The Magic put the game away in the third quarter with a 25-7 run for a 97-66 lead, then rested their starters in anticipation of today's game in Miami.
76ERS 116, BUCKS 97: Allen Iverson scored a season-high 54, including his 15,000th career point, for visiting Philadelphia. It was the seventh time in Iverson's nine-year career that he had scored at least 50 in a regular-season game. He has done it three times in the playoffs.
SPURS 104, WARRIORS 85: Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili each scored 21, including 15 straight in the second quarter, as San Antonio extended its winning streak to four games and beat the Warriors for the 15th straight time at home.
BOBCATS 101, ROCKETS 100 (OT): Jamal Sampson made two free throws to put host Charlotte up 101-97 with 3 seconds to play, a large enough margin to make Tracy McGrady's 3-pointer at the buzzer meaningless.
BLAZERS 75, PISTONS 74: Darius Miles made a free throw with 0.5 seconds remaining to lift visiting Portland. Detroit's Chauncey Billups tied the game with a 3-pointer with 7.8 seconds left, but Ben Wallace was called for a foul after colliding with Miles, who was driving to the basket. Miles missed the first shot free-throw attempt, but swished the second. Rasheed Wallace's desperation shot at the buzzer bounced off the top of the backboard.
BULLS 85, PACERS 71: Eddy Curry had season highs with 23 points and 13 rebounds to give Chicago its first three-game winning streak in a year. The Bulls haven't won four in a row since 1998 when their last championship team ran off 13 straight victories.
CELTICS 114, CAVALIERS 107: Paul Pierce scored 34 and Gary Payton made a crucial 3-pointer and three free throws in the final 1:17 of overtime as Boston snapped the Cavaliers' nine-game, home-winning streak. LeBron James hit an 11-foot jumper to tie it at 102.
MAVERICKS 90, HAWKS 68: Dallas held the visiting Hawks to just 28 first-half points. Their 68 points were a season low and tied the fewest ever scored by a Dallas opponent
SUNS 110, WIZARDS 96: Shawn Marion had a season-high 36 points and 14 rebounds, his 17th double-double in 24 games, for host Phoenix. Amare Stoudemire got in foul trouble and had just eight points in 22 minutes for the Suns, snapping his team-best streak of double-digit games at 53.
TABUSE WAIVED: The Suns waived guard Yuta Tabuse, the first Japanese-born player to appear in an NBA game. The 5-foot-9 Tabuse appeared in four games, averaging 1.8 points, 1.0 rebounds and 0.8 assists.
