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Magic Blow 16-Point Lead, Fall to Bobcats

Posted on: Tuesday, 22 March 2005, 06:00 CST

The Orlando Magic can ill afford to have any more games slip away from them. Otherwise, their playoff hopes may disappear just as quickly. The Magic blew a 16-point lead against expansion Charlotte in a 102-97 loss Monday night, ending the Bobcats' 10-game losing streak.

"It's frustrating, but we're going to get to the playoffs," Orlando's Dwight Howard said. "We've got 15 more games left. We can't let any more slip away like this."

Orlando fell a half-game behind Philadelphia for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Grant Hill sat with his head buried in his hands for almost 10 minutes. All around him, his Magic teammates seemed to be in a similar state of disbelief.

The Bobcats rallied in the second half, and got a running jumper from Brevin Knight with 12.4 seconds to play to help end their long losing streak.

The Magic went into the game without Steve Francis, who was suspended three games by the NBA earlier Monday for kicking a photographer last week. He sat out his first game Saturday - an Orlando win - but the Magic couldn't make it two in a row without their star guard.

It made for a long night for interim coach Chris Jent, who dropped to 1-1 since taking over after Johnny Davis was fired last week amid a seven-game losing streak.

"They kept playing. They outplayed us," Jent said. "It takes a lot of commitment to play 48 minutes. We gave a great effort, but we played a half of basketball and that's not enough."

Hill led Orlando with 25 points and Howard had 21 points and 13 rebounds - but he scored just two points in the second half.

In other games, New York beat San Antonio 88-75, Chicago defeated Atlanta 105-91, Dallas routed New Orleans 103-86 and the Los Angeles Clippers edged Portland 96-89.

Knicks 88, Spurs 75

At New York, Malik Rose knocked down a pair of 18-foot jumpers to complete a 14-0 run to start the fourth quarter, getting a measure of revenge against the team that traded him last month.

Rose had 18 points - his most since joining the Knicks 10 games ago - and seven rebounds against the team he spent the past 7 1/2 seasons with. Rose was making his first start for New York as Kurt Thomas was sidelined by an infected elbow.

Stephon Marbury scored the Knicks' final 14 points of the third quarter and finished with 31 points and 10 assists.

Devin Brown scored 22 points for the Spurs, who were without Tim Duncan (sprained ankle).

Bulls 105, Hawks 91

At Chicago, Eddy Curry scored 24 points in his return to the Bulls' lineup and Ben Gordon added 17 in the victory.

Curry, the 6-foot-11 center who missed the Bulls' previous three games because of a strained left hamstring, was 8-of-13 from the field and 8-of-9 from the line.

Josh Smith scored 16 points to lead the Hawks, who are an NBA-worst 11-55, have lost five straight and 18 of their last 19 games.

Mavericks 103, Hornets 86

At Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki had 25 points and eight rebounds, and rookie Devin Harris added a season-high 17 points as the Mavericks won in Avery Johnson's second game as head coach.

The Mavericks have won both games since Johnson took over for Don Nelson on Saturday and have victories in five of their last six overall.

Rookie J.R. Smith had a season-high 27 points for the Hornets, who have lost six of eight.

Clippers 96, Trail Blazers 89

At Los Angeles, Elton Brand and Corey Maggette each scored 22 points as the Clippers beat the Trail Blazers.

Los Angeles had a season-high 13 blocks - six off the franchise record. Bobby Simmons had 15 points for the Clippers, who reached the 30-win mark for just the fourth time in the last 12 seasons.

After playing eight of their previous nine games against clubs currently holding down a playoff spot, the Clippers salvaged a 2-2 split of the season series in a matchup of teams heading to the NBA lottery.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 23 points and 14 rebounds and Darius Miles added 20 points for the injury-ravaged Trail Blazers (23-42), whose fifth straight loss assured them of their first losing season since 1988-89 (39-43) and just the fourth since the franchise won its only NBA title in 1976-77.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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