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Magic push past Cavaliers 113-101 ( 2003-12-26 09:01) (Agencies)
LeBron James and Tracy McGrady put on a show the NBA had to love. Returning to the site of his pro debut in a summer league game, James scored 34 points for the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday, a pretty impressive day of work until you consider McGrady answered with 41 in the Orlando Magic's 113-101 overtime victory.
Juwan Howard scored Orlando's first eight points in the extra period, then McGrady made a pair of 3-pointers to finish with his second 40-plus game of the season. He also had eight rebounds and 11 assists.
James matched last season's league scoring champion point for point for most of the afternoon. The rookie phenom made 13 of 28 shots, but was just 4-of-10 from behind the 3-point line and missed all four of his shots in overtime.
Howard scored 19 points and Drew Gooden had 12 for the Magic, which has won seven of 10 since ending a 19-game losing streak.
Carlos Boozer had 18 points and 18 rebounds for the Cavs, who had their first three-game winning in two seasons snapped. Reserve Eric Williams contributed 18 points and seven rebounds, taking up some of the scoring slack when James' shots stopped falling late in the game.
The first meeting between two of the NBA's most popular young players drew the first sellout crowd to the T.D. Waterhouse Centre since James made his pro debut here in July. It also kicked off a nationally televised tripleheader featuring some of the league's highest-profile personalities and teams.
James has the NBA's top-selling jersey, as well as a signature sneaker released just in time for Christmas, and McGrady's No. 1 is third on the jersey list behind Denver rookie Carmelo Anthony.
McGrady, coming off a subpar shooting night in a 22-point loss at Philadelphia on Monday night, made his first three, including uncontested dunks on consecutive possessions that set the tone for a high-scoring first half.
James was even better during a 14-point first quarter, making his first four shots and five of seven in the period.
A six-minute stretch on the bench didn't cool the 18-year-old star. He made his first two shots after the rest ¡ª both 3-pointers ¡ª and finished the first half with 20 points on 7-for-9 shooting, including 4-for-5 from 3-point range.
McGrady was 8-of-14 for 19 points at the break, and the Magic got 17 from their reserves to offset Cleveland's 61 percent shooting and take a 60-58 lead.
Orlando led 95-86 with 6:36 remaining in regulation, then missed 12 of 13 shots down the stretch, including its last six. The Cavs tied it at 97 on Boozer's rebound of a James' miss with 46.9 seconds left.
Notes:@ With the Magic unveiling black pinstripe retro jerseys from the inaugural 1989-90 season, the Cavs wore their home whites. ... McGrady also made the jump to the NBA directly from high school. His first-season statistics with Toronto (7 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 18.4 minutes per game) pale in comparison to what James was on track for through his first 28 games (19.3 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists).
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