Magic Cast Spell On Wizards

Offseason shuffling aside, the rag-tag Orlando Magic still has enough firepower to make the Washington Wizards shake their heads in disbelief.

John Amaechi scored 12 of his career-high 14 points in the fourth quarter and the Magic's bench full of castoffs outplayed Washington's reserves as Orlando beat the Wizards 107-104 Saturday night.

Amaechi dominated an 11-4 run over a 2:40 span that erased a 76-74 Washington lead and helped Orlando to its sixth win in eight games against the Wizards. Since 1992-93, the Magic lead the series 22-8.

Tariq Abdul-Wahad added 14 points and eight rebounds for Orlando, which had lost two of three.

Juwan Howard had 22 points and Rod Strickland added 18 points and 13 assists for the Wizards, who have lost two straight.

"This team has to learn how to win. This team has to learn how to play a competitive game," first-year Wizards coach Gar Heard said. "We have to suffer until then."

It was the first game of the season between the teams that swapped six players and a draft choice in two offseason deals.

Isaac Austin came to the Wizards in a five-player trade, but only Ben Wallace remains with the Magic. Orlando dealt rookie swingman Laron Profit to Washington for a draft pick in September.

After the Wizards had closed to 85-83 on a layup by Aaron Williams with 4:13 left, Orlando went up 91-83 on a 3-pointer by Armstrong and a three-point play by Matt Harpring, who had 16 points.

Chris Whitney, who had 17 points, hit two 3-pointers for Washington in the final minute, but the Wizards fell short.

Reserves Amaechi, Harpring, Monty Williams and Chucky Atkins, who had 10 points, helped the Magic's bench outscore the Wizards' 60-42.

"We don't know who we are yet," first-year Orlando coach Doc Rivers said. "What we try to do is rely on who is hot."

The Wizards built a 20-10 lead on the strength of a 17-4 run featuring six points from Strickland. Orlando tied the game twice in the second quarter but never led and Bo Outlaw's free throw with 10 seconds left cut Washington's lead to 42-41 at halftime.

"When we got up by 10, we started doing things we normally shouldn't be doing," Heard said. "We started quick-shooting the ball. That's not us."

Monty Williams had 10 third-quarter points for the Magic, who diffused Washington's up-tempo game and took a 69-65 lead with 2.4 seconds left. Whitney hit a 3-pointer as time expired in the third quarter to trim the lead to one point.

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