ORLANDO, Fla. — Tracy McGrady and Mike Miller combined for 15 points Monday night during a dominant run to close the third quarter as the Orlando Magic posted their most lopsided victory since 1999, a 113-71 rout of the Memphis Grizzlies.ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 3 (Ticker) — Tracy McGrady and Mike Miller combined for 15 points during a dominant run to close the third quarter as the Orlando Magic posted their most lopsided victory since 1999, a 113-71 rout of the Memphis Grizzlies.
Miller finished with 26 points on 9-of-14 shooting and McGrady had 22 points as Orlando improved to 10-1 all time against the Grizzlies. The Magic, who never trailed, have yet to lose to the Grizzlies in six games at home.
Two of Tracy McGrady’s 22 points came on this reverse jam. The margin of victory was Orlando’s fourth-largest ever and second-largest at home. It was the team’s largest victory since a 115-68 destruction of the Chicago Bulls on April 1, 1999.
“It was about time we (had) one like that,” Miller said. “We’ve been looking for one of them. Hopefully, it’ll be a breakout game for us. Hopefully, we’ll start sharing the ball like this all the time, start playing defense like this all the time.”
After Memphis whittled a 19-point third-quarter deficit to 11 following rookie Pau Gasol’s alley-oop dunk with 5:39 remaining, Orlando called a timeout. Miller made a three-point play 20 seconds after the break to start the Magic’s run and capped it with a shot from beyond the arc with 24 seconds left to give Orlando a 91-60 lead.
“You can’t go up on a team and then let them right back in it,” Miller said. “Because now all it takes (is) one stop and a three-pointer and they have the confidence that they can beat you. So we came out there and played better defense and made the shots.”
Memphis, which had a season-high two-game winning streak snapped, was paced by Stromile Swift’s 13 points. Rookies Gasol and Shane Battier added 12 points apiece. Battier also recorded a season-high five steals.
“Yesterday we had a great effort against Philly, but I don’t think the tiredness was the main thing,” Gasol said. “They scored very well and shot very good. We didn’t fight enough to win the game.”
The Grizzlies were held to just 34 percent shooting (26-of-77), while the Magic made 56 percent (44-of-78) of their shots from the field.
“I thought the movement of the ball was flawless and the defense was as good as it gets,” Orlando coach Doc Rivers said. “We caught a team that was tired and we played with great energy, so I am just really happy with the victory.”
Orlando made 11-of-19 3-point attempts while Memphis made just 2-of-10. Pat Garrity made 4-of-5 from beyond the arc and finished with 18 points. Miller was 3-of-5 from three-point range.
Garrity hit three three-pointers and scored all 13 of his first-half points in the second quarter as Orlando led 62-45 by the break.
Grizzlies center Lorenzen Wright left the game early in the third quarter after a knee-on-knee collision with Orlando guard Darrell Armstrong. He suffered a left knee bruise and did not return. Wright is listed as day-to-day.
“We’re gonna wait and see,” Memphis coach Sidney Lowe said. “Someone fell into his leg. We might have to get an X-ray, but he was walking in the locker room, so he’s probably going to be OK.”
Orlando had more rebounds (52-33), points in the paint (42-34) and assists (27-19) than Memphis, but the Magic committed 21 turnovers to the Grizzlies’ 17.
“If we didn’t turn the ball over the way we turned the ball over the first quarter of the first half, it would have been much better,” Rivers said. “Twenty-one turnovers is the only black mark on this game.”
The Magic have home games against the lowly Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks before departing on a season-high six-game road trip.
“We have two more home games, I guess you could call them `cupcake’ teams,” McGrady said, “but the most important thing is that we’ve got to come out Wednesday and Friday. We’ve got to take care of those games.”
