Dallas, Dec 07: The Orlando Magic lost their 19th game in a row on Saturday in Dallas. Antoine Walker scored 24 points and 16 rebounds while Michael Finley added 22 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 110-97 win. The loss put Orlando within 4 games of tying the NBA record of 23 consecutive losses in a single season. The dubious mark is currently held by the 1995-96 Vancouver Grizzlies and the 1997-98 Denver Nuggets. Orlando's next four games are against Phoenix, Washington, New Jersey and Atlanta. Dallas was coming off its first home loss of the season, 114-103 to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night. The Mavericks have lost consecutive games only once. The Mavericks led for good after Walker's short jumper with 7:36 left in the second quarter made it 42-41 and started a 13-0 run. Finley shot 9-of-12 for the Mavericks, while Antawn Jamison had 18 points and Howard 13. Tracy McGrady led Orlando with 27 points but shot just 9-of-24. Juwan Howard had a season-high 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Tyronn Lee had 16 points.


Eight different Dallas players played at least 12 minutes, and two others played nine. With all the different lineup combinations, the Mavericks had a season-high 21 turnovers. Orlando turned those turnovers into 25 points, but was outscored 64-34 in the paint and outrebounded 55-36.


Bureau Report