Magic Trick Nets

Darrell Armstrong has been the go-to guy for the Orlando Magic all season, so it's not surprising he stepped up with the season and their playoff hopes on the line against the New Jersey Nets on Friday night.

Armstrong scored six of his 23 points in the final 1:17 and the Magic took sole possession of the eighth playoff berth in the Eastern Conference with a 96-88 win on Friday night.

"We were struggling, we needed a win and Darrell Armstrong saved us," coach Doc Rivers said after the Magic snapped a two-game losing streak.

Ron Mercer added 22 points, John Amaechi hit two key free throws with 2:26 to go and Ben Wallace, playing on a bad foot, grabbed 20 rebounds as the Magic handed the Nets their season-high ninth straight loss.

"We just wanted to put all the bad things that happened the last two games behind us and get that winning mentality back," Orlando's Pat Garrity said. "Darrell, Ben and Corey (Maggette) were just huge."

New Jersey played without starting guards Stephon Marbury and Kerry Kittles, and backup forwad Scott Burrell was limited by a knee injury.

Even without them, the Nets made the Magic sweat. Johnny Newman scored a season-high 27 points, including 15 straight during a fourth-quarter stretch for New Jersey, and Keith Van Horn added 25 points and 17 rebounds.

"It's just frustrating," said Newman, who was 4-of-6 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the final quarter. "We're hanging in there, making a strong effort but we are playing shorthanded. We just have to keep going."

Newman's hit an off-balance floater for his 15th straight point with 4:17 to go cut the Magic's lead to 84-83.

Bo Outlaw pushed the margin back to three points with one of his odd-looking jumpers, but Van Horn hit another floater in the lane to make it 86-85 with 2:43 to go.

"We knew the Nets would play hard," Armstrong said. "When they made that last run, we stepped up and met the challenge."

Amaechi was fouled in the lane with 2:21 to play and made both shots. The Nets had two chances to tie, but Van Horn missed an open shot from the corner and then turned the ball over on the next possession.

Armstrong, who was 9-of-14 from the field, then hit consecutive jumpers and added two free throws to put the game away. His first jumper came after the Nets left him alone for a double-team, while the second came after Armstrong told Rivers to call a pick-and-roll.

"When you're point guard says he wants to run the pick-and-roll, you know he wants to shoot," Rivers said. "He's been our leader all season and I decided to go with my gut and put the ball in his hands because he wanted to win it for us."

The Nets had pulled to 70-67 at the end of the third quarter on the most unlikely of 3-pointers. Kendall Gill heaved the ball from halfcourt and it hit the top point of the backboard, went straight up in the air and swished through on the way down.

Gill was so certain he had missed the shot he turned his back and walked to the Nets bench. Even after the crowd went wild and teammates went to congratulate him as he approached the bench, Gill still didn't understand the shot went in and counted.

Notes