McGrady Gets 46 in Win Over Nets

Two days after watching 40-year-old Michael Jordan become the oldest NBA player to score 40 points in a game, the New Jersey Nets got burned by one of the younger stars -- Tracy McGrady.

McGrady had 46 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds in his second big game in a row and the Orlando Magic won its third in a row with a 113-105 victory over the Nets on Sunday at East Rutherford, N.J.

“Michael scoring 43 at 40 years old, that’s more impressive,” McGrady said in rating his performance against the Nets versus Jordan’s.

What McGrady did against the defending Eastern Conference champions just two days after he tallied a career-best 52 points against Chicago was impressive too.

“He’s a talented guy.” said fellow All-Star guard Jason Kidd, who posted his third triple-double of the season and the 49th of his career in leading the Nets with 26 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds. “He can do it all.”

McGrady, who leads the NBA in scoring with a 31.4 point average, made 16 of 27 shots and got all his teammates involved in posting the second triple-double of his career.

“I have been feeling it the last two games,” McGrady said. “My confidence is just so high. The baskets seems so big, man. I’m in a zone, and hopefully I can stay in that zone from now until the end of the season.”

Sacramento 99, New York 92 -- Chris Webber made a successful return with 20 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists after missing 10 games because of a badly sprained left ankle.

Sidelined since Jan. 28 because of a sprained ankle, Webber barely missed his 18th career triple-double.

Kurt Thomas had 17 points for New York.

Dallas 106, Washington 101 -- The NBA’s top team overcame Jordan’s fourth-quarter and overtime efforts.

Dirk Nowitzki had 29 points and 10 rebounds, Michael Finley had 24 points, and Steve Nash had 22 points and 10 assists at Washington as the Mavericks won their sixth in a row.

Jordan had 14 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. It’s Jordan’s seventh 30-plus game this season -- and the first one that the Wizards lost.

Jordan was 14 of 26 from the field and had nine rebounds, but he also had six of Washington’s nine turnovers. Jordan also missed a 17-footer against a double-team at the buzzer that would have won the game in regulation.

Minnesota 99, Phoenix 97 -- Wally Szczerbiak scored a season-high 30 points and Kevin Garnett had 24 points and 15 rebounds as the Timberwolves held on at Minneapolis.

Trailing, 97-82, with 5:41 left, Phoenix went on a 15-2 run to give itself a chance to win. But Casey Jacobsen’s three-point attempt with 4.9 seconds left went off the rim.

Stephon Marbury had 32 points and 10 assists for Phoenix, which has lost three in a row and five of six since the All-Star break.

Philadelphia 116, Cleveland 103 -- Allen Iverson scored 23 points at Philadelphia as the 76ers won their sixth straight game.

The Sixers, unbeaten since the All-Star break, moved into a tie with Boston for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

Golden State 115, Atlanta 93 -- Jason Richardson scored 20 points as the Warriors built an 18-point lead in the third quarter and improved to 10-2 against the Eastern Conference at Oakland.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 23 points and 14 rebounds for Atlanta.