Suns hang on, top Clippers

Associated Press
Los Angeles Clippers guard Quentin Richardson (left) can only watch as Phoenix Suns forward Shawn Marion dunks the ball during Saturday's game.

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Tim Tyers
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 24, 2002

LOS ANGELES - The Suns spent the better part of their six-game losing streak digging themselves into a crater and clawing their way back to the top, only to fall short.

They changed the script 180 degrees against the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night, building themselves a nice mountain and then hanging on for their lives to keep from sliding off.

Shawn Marion, who had 32 points and 14 rebounds, and Dan Majerle's three clutch three-point shots not only kept them from the cliff's edge but allowed them to snap their losing streak with a 97-94 win over the Clippers.

In a situation that only makes sense in the NBA, it was the Suns, who are out of serious playoff contention, and not the Clippers, who fell to 2 ? games behind Utah for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, who came out like a team in playoff contention.

They doubled up the Clippers' 13 first-quarter points, thanks in part to a 12-0 advantage in second-chance points, and extended the lead to 16 midway through the second period before the Clippers narrowed it to 49-40 at halftime.

Marion, who was questionable for the game because of back spasms, had 18 first-half points, and guard Marbury ran the Suns offense almost perfectly.

But it was a surprisingly solid effort by the Suns' Jake Tsakalidis against Michael Olowokandi that neutralized the Clippers' inside game.

Tsakalidis had eight points, six rebounds and two blocks, and Olowokandi had 10 first-half points but was limited to just four boards and no rebounds. Clippers teammate Elton Brand was held to 0-for-4 shooting.

The Suns' slide began over a 4:34 stretch in the third period, when the Clippers turned a 62-50 Suns lead into a tie at 64 on Eric Piatkowski's acrobatic, running jumper.

The run coincided with Tskalidis picking up three quick fouls within 1:24 and having to take a seat. The Suns started standing around offensively, either going one-on-one too much or settling for long-distance attempts.

They managed to exit the third period with a 70-66 lead, thanks to a bucket by Marion and a three-pointer by Majerle. A pair of threes by Majerle early in the fourth period, when the Clippers crept back within two and one, kept Suns from letting the Clippers get the lead.

An hour before the start of the Phoenix Suns' 87-76 loss to the Charlotte Hornets Saturday night, Frank Johnson stood outside the Suns' locker room talking about the team's most-pressing issues.

Make no mistake, the Suns have many pressing issues these days.

Anfernee Hardaway is grumbling about his demotion to the second unit. Tom Gugliotta is out with a foot injury and is probably done for the rest of the season, leaving the Suns with little offensive punch on the front line. Joe Johnson is trying to fit in and prove himself after coming over in a trade with Boston last month. Stephon Marbury is taking another bad shot even as you read this.

It all translates into losing, and with each passing day, the Suns' playoff hopes continue to fade.

"This is a tough job," Johnson said. "I'm doing a lot of make-shifting and a lot of improvising right now, just trying to hold it all together. It's funny. It's a different job when you move one seat over, no question. There's a lot more pressure and a lot more things to deal with."

Johnson isn't complaining, though.

When he took over as head coach on Feb. 17 after Scott Skiles resigned under pressure, it was the reward for years of dedication to the franchise. And it was the culmination of a dream that dates back as far as his days as a standout guard at Wake Forest in the late 1970s and early '80s.

"This is something I've wanted to do for a long time," he said.

Johnson closed out a 13-year professional playing career in Phoenix, playing his final two seasons there after seven seasons in Washington, one in Houston and three in Europe.

He remained with the organization after retirement, working in the community-relations department and heading up the team's Stay in School program for two years, then got into the coaching ranks as an assistant in 1996. He has worked his way up the coaching ladder continually since.

"It is very gratifying, especially when you work your way up and then finally you are at the point where you wanted to be," Johnson said. "I had a chance to be an assistant in Minnesota when I retired, but I chose to stay with this organization instead, and it has paid off. I wasn't even coaching when I started, then it was fourth assistant, then third, then second, then first. So to have it play out like this and to know you've put in your time and earned it, it is very rewarding."

It's gratifying, too, after Johnson lost out on the Wake Forest coaching job after Dave Odom left for South Carolina last summer.

Johnson had the support of one faction of Wake alumni and supporters, and he acknowledges he would have loved to return to his alma mater. But he's not sure how serious a candidate he actually was in the mind of Athletics Director Ron Wellman, who eventually hired Skip Prosser away from Xavier.

"We talked, but we never had anything formally," Johnson said. "We were just exchanging notes with each other and it never really got off the ground. I had friends there who asked me if I'd be interested in the job and I said yes, I would be. When you talk about Wake Forest and the ACC, I mean, I could have gotten very excited about that. But I never really got a chance to talk at length, so I don't know what to think.

"But you have to say it's worked out well for me anyway."

Paul Silas, the coach of the Charlotte Hornets, was an assistant in Phoenix when Johnson joined the coaching ranks in '96. His assessment of Johnson is a positive one.

"He's a really good guy," Silas said. "He's got a great personality. He's very knowledgeable about the game, very into the game. And he worked with the players very diligently the year we were together, so you know he has the work ethic."

The key for Johnson to make it as a head coach, Silas figures, will be Johnson's ability to go from the good-cop role of assistant to the sometimes bad-cop role as the boss.

"He's always had that very outgoing personality, quick to laugh, and some might question if his toughness is there," Silas said. "I think it is. I think the toughness is there when it has to be. If he can put his foot down when he has to, he has a chance. That's what he's got to do the rest of the season. If you don't stand up for yourself, you've got no chance."

With a dysfunctional group like Hardaway, Marbury and Bo Outlaw, that's not going to be easy.

Johnson isn't sure about his long-term status as head coach. The Suns are 5-11 since he took over, and there is little reason to believe this team will get turned back around in the final four weeks of the season.

That doesn't necessarily bode well for the future.

But Johnson remains the loyal trooper nonetheless.

"I don't know what they're thinking about next year," he said. "You'd have to ask them. I just want to do my best and see what happens. It will work out the way it's supposed to work out. I have a lot of confidence in this organization, and I know the people in charge are committed to winning. We'll right this ship, whether I'm part of it next year or not."

Penny Hardaway has never forgiven Orlando. Maybe it's time to move on. As things have turned out, both parties are better off for Hardaway having left the Magic for Phoenix in August of 199.

Circumstances had reached the point where the hypersensitive Hardaway had to go.

He got his jackpot contract (seven years, almost $87 million) in a sign-and-trade deal, and the Magic got the salary-cap space they later used to sign Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill. Win-win.

If there was a loser in the deal, it was the Suns, who got an injury-prone player who is having difficulty accepting the fact that he is no longer one of the NBA's elite athletes.

And he has four years left on a contract that pays him as if he were.

But there was a time when a different decision could have changed the whole story, according to Hardaway.

"If I could do it all over again, I would have sat out the entire season after I had my second surgery (in 1998) instead of trying to come back," he said before Wednesday night's game in Orlando.

"Then I'd probably still be in Orlando.

"After the second surgery, people didn't tolerate anything I did wrong. They just couldn't understand why I couldn't play the way I had been playing.

"But I was hurt. There was no way around it. They used all kinds of excuses against me, but I just came back too soon."

In Hardaway's view, "they" is the Orlando he had to leave. It includes the Magic organization, then-coach Chuck Daly, teammates who may have questioned the extent of his injuries, the media, the fans and everyone who turned against him when he was injured. "They" are all in it together. Hardaway once blamed Owner Rich DeVos for not ordering the media to stop criticizing him.

"They" are still out there and Hill, who has had two ankle operations since signing with the Magic, had better beware.

"They weren't patient with me, and they really weren't patient with Grant," Hardaway said. "You have to let people just rest and come back when they want to. The one person I respect the most throughout this whole thing is (New Jersey's) Kerry Kittles because nobody heard from him for about two years. He sat out fully and he got fully well, and now he's the old Kerry Kittles.

"I kept coming back early because the team needed me, and I got smashed for it. It's the same thing with Grant; he needs to sit out. He just had surgery again, and if he tries to come back, it'll happen again."

There are elements of accuracy in Hardaway's memory. There isn't much doubt he came back too soon after his first knee operation in the winter of '97. There is no doubt the Magic needed him, and he finished that season with the highlight of his career, scoring 31 points a game in a first-round playoff loss to Miami.

He has never been the same player after the second operation, which cost him 80 percent of the 1997-98 season. His legs never regained the lift that made him a nightmare for opposing guards in his first three NBA seasons. Probably there were people who couldn't understand that and were disappointed by his performance. Daly may have been one of them.

But he was still a very good player. The decline in his game was only a small factor in the decline of Hardaway's popularity in Orlando. In fact, his decline in popularity was grossly overstated, especially by Hardaway himself. Until his final days in Orlando, when he basically talked his way out of town, he was actually very popular among most fans.

But if three people were booing in a crowd of 16,00, he would hang his head and get defensive. Then came the selfish demands, antagonistic statements, overreaction to the slightest criticism, whining.

When Daly resigned in the spring of 1999 and Doc Rivers took over as coach of the Magic, he tried to talk Hardaway into staying. The Magic would have given him the same maximum contract he got from the Suns, but by then Hardaway had his heart set on Phoenix.

In what looked like a one-sided deal favoring Phoenix, the Magic took Pat Garrity and the final year of Danny Manning's contract. Manning was traded before ever putting on a Magic uniform and Garrity has proved to be an inexpensive asset.

"The trade has worked out terrificly for us," Rivers said. "Penny Hardaway is obviously a better player overall, I guess. But because of the injuries and the other stuff . . .you've got to think Pat Garrity worked out far better for us, especially when you factor in that we got Tracy and Grant due to that deal."

The Suns have been disappointing in each of Hardaway's three seasons out there. He missed virtually all of last season and now Coach Frank Johnson is bringing him off the bench.

Hardaway, now 30, doesn't like it one bit. He concedes that he may have to change his game eventually to compensate for what he has lost in spring and quickness.

"But I'm not at that point now," he said. "I don't have to change my game for anybody."

Three wins in a row for the Hawks have Shareef Abdur-Rahim saying the "P" word.

"[We're] still trying to make a push for the playoffs and then end the season on as high of a note as possible," said Abdur-Rahim, who had a game-high 33 points and 12 rebounds as the Hawks defeated the Phoenix Suns 104-89 Friday at Philips Arena.

The Hawks, with a 25-39 record, are 12th in the Eastern Conference, and the top eight make the playoffs. The Charlotte Hornets are eighth at 31-33, followed by the Miami Heat at 29-34. Atlanta has 18 games remaining.

Tim Whitmire of the Charlotte Observer reports: Using their strongest public language to date, some NBA owners are expressing serious concern about the Charlotte Hornets' proposed move to New Orleans.

Speaking Wednesday at a sports-business conference in New York, Seattle SuperSonics owner Howard Schultz told Sports Business Daily that the requested move by Hornets owners George Shinn and Ray Wooldridge reflects poorly on the league.

Schultz and other NBA owners are attending the World Congress of Sports at New York's Waldorf Astoria hotel.

Also attending is Phoenix Suns Chairman Jerry Colangelo, who leads the committee that will make a recommendation on the Hornets' relocation.

The seven-member committee, along with NBA Commissioner David Stern, is to visit New Orleans on Wednesday.

Colangelo acknowledged significant opposition to the move.

"I think it's a hot button for a lot of people in the league," he told Sports Business Daily. "I've heard from a number of people who are very strongly opposed to a move, but our committee will weigh all the plusses and make the recommendation to the board."

Hornets spokesman Harold Kaufman could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening.

After Colangelo's committee makes a recommendation, representatives of the league's 29 teams are to vote in early April on the Hornets' move. A majority vote would be needed for the team to relocate.

Sources have told The Observer that many within the NBA are concerned because New Orleans is a smaller television market than Charlotte and has a substantially lower median income and a smaller corporate community to buy luxury suites and premium seats.

Those same sources blame Shinn and Wooldridge for declining support that has seen Hornets' attendance go from the top of the league to the bottom in recent years.

A Charlotte lawyer and restaurateur said another NBA owner, outspoken Dallas Mavericks head Mark Cuban, recently told him league owners oppose the move.

Peter Kerasotis
Sports

ORLANDO -- There is no pain involved.

Only pleasure.

Penny Hardaway is sitting on the bench for the Phoenix Suns, and almost a whole first quarter passes before he enters Wednesday night's game against the Orlando Magic. He is healthy, which is not a typo. So an injury -- real or imagined -- is not the problem. No, the only reason Penny isn't starting for the mediocre Suns is because Penny, too, is mediocre.

The guy who once was the second coming of Michael Jordan is now second string.

Delicious, isn't it?

Magic fans boo Penny's entrance onto the court. They boo him every time he touches the ball. But it is not a bitter boo. It is mocking. Derisive. Gloating.

It is like your girlfriend breaking up with you and then seeing her a year later, 50 pounds overweight and dating some schmo with bad body odor, a beer gut and no front teeth.

Back in 1999, after Penny spurned Orlando owner Rich DeVos and bad-mouthed Magic fans, he landed in Phoenix, wooed by Suns owner Jerry Colangelo. DeVos and Colangelo, in case you didn't know, are polar opposites when it comes to class.

Three years later, we find Penny now isn't worth a plug nickel in the NBA. Though they've tried, the Suns can't unload him and his obscene contract (seven years at $86.6 million). It restores your faith in justice.

Of course, it isn't always this way when a so-called franchise player leaves via free agency. Magic fans know this well enough. Every time the Los Angeles Lakers come to town, Shaquille O'Neal leads the way. Not only is Shaq the game's most dominant player, he now has two world championships on his growing resume.

It hurts.

Shaq is not only good, he is fun, marketable, charismatic. He is difficult to dislike, even when he snubs you. Just the sight of Shaq launches a thousand daydreams. What if he had stayed in Orlando? What if he were playing alongside Tracy McGrady? Would there be a dynasty now? Would there be a new arena?

Then you ask the same questions about Penny, who is so devoid of charisma that Nike once had to invent Lil' Penny as an alter-ego. What if he had stayed in Orlando? Would McGrady be here now? Would DeVos have pulled the team off the market? Would the Magic be on the fast track out of O-town?

Shaq's departure was the worst thing that ever happened to this franchise.

Penny's departure was the best.

So there is no pain now, seeing Penny coming off the bench like a common scrub, his current team losing to his former one, 119-114. And it's not like Penny's act ever changes, either. Penny complains now that there is too much pressure on him in Phoenix, that Suns fans pick on his every mistake, that he still believes he's an elite player.

"I don't feel like I have to prove anything because I know I can still play," he says. He intimates he'd like a trade, a new start to get away from what he perceives to be a bad situation. But he stops short of making a concrete demand. "I don't want to put my foot in my mouth," he says.

Since when?

The soundtrack on Penny's NBA career has a skip in it. Same song. Same refrain. Same nonsense. No matter what happens, no matter what failure there is, it is never Penny's fault.

Last night, when his one-time understudy, Tracy McGrady, burned him on a dunk, Penny glared at teammate Stephon Marbury. Even if there was a cross-up in signals and Marbury was to blame, you don't do that. You don't show up a teammate. But that's Penny.

Seconds later, at the other end of the court, T-Mac stuffed Penny, setting up a fast-break basket for Orlando. With nobody to blame, Penny hung his head. The crowd cheered.

It felt good. Real good. The way it ought to feel.

The fans inside TD Waterhouse Centre obviously came to cheer Bo Outlaw and jeer Penny Hardaway Wednesday night. But instead, it was a stunning career night from Troy Hudson and an epic duel between Orlando's Tracy McGrady and Phoenix's Shawn Marion that eventually overshadowed the return of the two former Magic players.

McGrady came up short on a layup that would have won the game in regulation, but scored all 10 of Orlando's points in overtime, paving the way for the Magic's gutsy 119-114 victory against the Suns.

"That wasn't tough coaching for me in the overtime," Magic coach Doc Rivers said. "That was, 'Get the ball to Tracy and spread the floor the right way.' He really took the game over."

Orlando (34-30) had lost its previous three overtime games this season. The Magic won their seventh consecutive home game and have 11 of their final 18 games this season in their own arena. The Magic, who host Denver on Friday, are 20-10 at home.

McGrady had a 50-point game last week, but this effort might have been even better. He made half of his 28 shots, scored 35 points, grabbed eight rebounds and handed out eight assists. He also added three steals and two blocked shots in 47 minutes.

"We let our guards down throughout the game and gave them some life and let them force overtime," McGrady said. "But we had to take the game over in overtime and really put it on them."

Hudson filled the void created by Mike Miller's ankle injury, scoring a career-high 34 points off the bench. Playing on his 26th birthday, Hudson sank five 3-pointers and carried the Magic for the stretches that McGrady didn't. Coincidentally, his previous career high of 30 points also came last season against Stephon Marbury, then a member of the New Jersey Nets.

"I really feel like I belong now where I didn't always feel like that last year," said Hudson, a candidate for the NBA's Most Improved Player award after a disastrous first season in Orlando. "Last year I was trying to feel my way out, but now I'm being more aggressive. Basically, I'm not thinking as much and I'm just playing free."

Outlaw, one of the Magic's most popular players during his five seasons in Orlando, received a rousing ovation when he was announced with the Phoenix starting lineup. Outlaw was traded to Phoenix on Nov. 16 in large part because of his $6 million salary this season. He is in the second year of a six-year, $28.1 million contract. He finished with four points and 11 rebounds.

Demoted last month, Hardaway wasn't in the starting lineup Wednesday night. But fans still had plenty of opportunities to express their lingering bitterness toward Hardaway, showering him with boos as soon as he walked to the scorer's table to check into the game. Despite the boos each time he touched the ball, Hardaway played inspired basketball. When he wasn't slashing to the basket for his 16 points, Hardaway was setting up others with eight assists.

In addition to hinting that he might want out of Phoenix if the Suns plan to use him off the bench next season, Hardaway admitted that he still often wonders what might have been in Orlando had things not gone so terribly wrong.

"If we would have won we probably would still be together in Orlando," Hardaway said, referring to the Magic's run to the NBA Finals in 1995. "And if Shaq (O'Neal) wouldn't have left, I'm sure we would have won several titles by now. But it was just one of those things that started to unfold for us when Shaq left. He left and there was a lot of pressure put on me and I ended up leaving, too.

"They're trying to rebuild now and it's really unfortunate that Grant (Hill) hasn't been able to play the last couple of years. But it does occasionally go through my mind, 'What if I would have stayed?' "

Despite the return of Hardaway and Outlaw, there were plenty of empty seats among the crowd of 14,771. Improving their average attendance of 14,804 has been a point of emphasis since owner Rich DeVos pulled the team off the market last week. DeVos addressed the crowd at halftime, thanking the fans for attending and pleading for more support.

"I want you to know that we're committing to Orlando, and we're committed to staying in this building," said DeVos, who has owned the Magic since 1991. "I need (the fans') help in selling tickets because we've got to fill the place up the rest of the way. I don't want to hear that it's too expensive because we've got $10 tickets for sale. So lets fill this place up."

Joked Sunshine Network analyst Jack Givens: "That reminds me of a song I used to hear when I was growing up: 'I ain't too proud to beg.' "

Marbury had 31 points and 10 assists for the slumping Suns (30-35). Marion, who forced overtime with a jumper with 4 seconds to play, contributed 22 points and 13 rebounds.

"Really, we didn't play very smart," Rivers said. "We had some horrible switches defensively and just some bad missed assignments. But somehow we endured our own faulty play and got a win."

The Magic improved to 14-0 this season when shooting at least 50 percent. Horace Grant scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Monty Williams scored 16.

Orlando led by as many as 13 points early in the third quarter, but allowed the Suns to come all the way back and take the lead. Hardaway led the spirited rally, and it was his finger-roll layup and no-look assist to Dan Majerle that gave Phoenix its first lead (101-99) since the game was 5-4 early in the first quarter.

But from there, Hudson made two short jumpers in the lane, and McGrady twice found an open Grant for layups. Grant, playing his best ball of the season, then calmly sank two free throws with 58 seconds remaining to put the Magic up 109-105.

But Phoenix fought back and tied the game with 4 seconds remaining on an awkward baseline jumper from Marion that hit the rim, then the backboard before falling through.

McGrady, who made the game-winning shot last Friday against Washington, had a chance to win the game in regulation. He got to the basket against Marion -- one of the league's best defenders -- but his left-handed finger roll fell short.

There was probably more of a buzz Wednesday night around town about the Tonya Harding-Paula Jones schlockfest on Fox than for Penny Hardaway's return to where he and the Orlando Magic reached the NBA Finals in 1995.

In previous years, this may have cemented Orlando's reputation as a city that really needs to get off the couch more often. But the thousands of empty seats in an arena where the Magic once recorded 247 consecutive sellouts provided living proof that Hardaway is officially a dead issue.

Of course, it helps that his career has taken a turn for the worse with the Phoenix Suns. He is little more now than the answer to the trivia question of who wore No. 1 in Orlando before Tracy McGrady.

Hardaway tends to resemble the player who went 3-of-17 at Philadelphia in his final game in a Magic uniform, not the one who lit up the Miami Heat for more than 40 points in back-to-back playoff games in 1997. And almost three years after he was traded, it's becoming harder to believe he and Shaquille O'Neal embodied the future of the franchise.

'SECOND STRING BUM'

"Just sitting in the locker room and coming in this morning and going to the shootaround, I wasn't anxious or anything to get in there and do whatever because I was coming to Orlando," he said. "It was just like another game."

It was also his ninth game in a row in a reserve role. Frank Johnson, who replaced Scott Skiles last month as coach of the Suns, has chosen to bring him off the bench for reasons that have nothing to do with his surgically repaired left knee.

Predictably, Hardaway was booed when he came in with 3:05 to go in the first quarter and whenever he touched the ball thereafter. Also not surprising is that his disposition is hardly sunny on the topic of not starting.

"Physically, I feel great," he said. "But coming off the bench is just something I'm doing because the coaching staff wants me to do that. I'm not going to make a fuss about it, but after this season, I don't want to do that."

A fan seated behind the Suns' basket during the first half held up a sign that said, "PENNY SECOND STRING BUM." That came off as borderline tame compared to a fan in Phoenix who blurted out "we're in trouble now" when Hardaway was getting ready to check in recently.

FOUR MORE YEARS

"What's wrong with him now probably is he doesn't like coming off the bench," Magic coach Doc Rivers said. "I don't know him well enough, but it doesn't seem like it takes a lot to get him sideways."

Hardaway, who ended up with 16 points and eight assists in 36 minutes in the Suns' 119-114 overtime loss, has four years remaining after this season on a contract worth nearly $85 million. At 30, the jury is still out on whether the Magic made out better than the Suns in acquiring Pat Garrity and two first-round draft picks for him.

If Johnson becomes the latest coach with whom he can't exist, Hardaway's travels could take him to his hometown of Memphis as the newest member of the Grizzlies.

"I don't want to put my foot in my mouth or whatever," he said. "I'd love to finish my career in Phoenix. But if that doesn't work, maybe that's an option."

He said he'd love to finish his career in Orlando, too. For now, perhaps he should concentrate on showing he's not just plain finished.

It was a night of basketball in which you saw anything and everything. No one would have been shocked if Elvis had showed up to dunk (a doughnut).

The Orlando Magic's 119-114 overtime victory against the Phoenix Suns seemed rather routine after the goings-on Wednesday night at TD Waterhouse Centre.

Also included in the game package were appearances by Penny Hardaway and Bo Outlaw, part of the Magic's vast NBA alumni. Guess who was booed?

There was Dee Brown, a Magic front-office exec, tying up his sneakers and getting early playing time.

There was a fan shooting eight air balls during a promotion.

And there was Orlando owner Rich DeVos standing at center court with sweaty point guard Darrell Armstrong and making an impassioned halftime plea for fans to buy tickets.

So it will not surprise you to hear the Magic (34-30) were sparked by reserve point guard Troy Hudson, the last guy you'd pick to win a game of "Horse." All Hudson did was drag a 41 percent shooting average into the game and leave with a career-high 34 points, making 14 of 23 shots.

Happy birthday, Troy.

Hudson, who turned 26 and was hitting just 30 percent of his 3-point attempts, drained 5-of-10. He bailed out Armstrong, who struggled with six turnovers and just two points.

Playing their second game in their playoff push without injured Mike Miller, the Magic needed out-of-the-blue contributions. Monty Williams, Miller's replacement, chipped in with 16 points.

From the not-so-shocking department: Magic star Tracy McGrady was again the sure thing on this anything-goes night, leading all scorers with 35 points and making all the big plays down the stretch.

McGrady, who missed a driving layup at the end of regulation, scored all 10 of the Magic's points in overtime. In the last minute, he drove to draw a goaltending call against Shawn Marion, stole the ball from Marion and then nailed a basket for a 118-112 lead with 30.5 seconds left. That's how you sell tickets.

The Suns brought racehorse basketball from the Western Conference to the arena, forcing the Magic to match their small, quick lineup without Miller. At one point, Doc Rivers inserted Brown -- only a few days ago an executive assistant to John Gabriel -- in the second quarter to run with Armstrong and Hudson.

The Suns were led by point guard Stephon Marbury's 31 points. Marion scored 22, and Hardaway came off the bench for a solid 16-point, eight-assist night.

Hardaway -- traded to the Suns in 1999 after a stormy Orlando tenure -- was booed lustily when he reached the scorers' table and each time he touched the ball.

The Magic took a 62-53 lead into intermission with Hudson trotting to the locker room with 18 points. Meanwhile, Armstrong accompanied DeVos to center court.

After exhausting avenues to secure funding for a new, revenue-making arena, DeVos announced the team was for sale in January. But DeVos, citing "a change of heart," pulled the club off the market last week. The crowd cheered as DeVos spoke. "I want you to know we're committed to Orlando," he said. "We're committed to stay in this building . . .

"I need you to help sell tickets because we've got to fill the place up the rest of the way."

On the Sunshine airwaves, analyst Jack Givens joked that DeVos' sales pitch reminded him of a Temptations song, "Ain't Too Proud To Beg."

Added former Magic forward Jeff Turner, the team's radio analyst, of DeVos: "Never seen that one." It was that kind of night.

TONIGHT: Phoenix Suns, 7:30

WHERE: TD Waterhouse Centre.

RECORDS: Magic 33-30, Suns 30-34.

BROADCAST: TV -- Sunshine Network. Radio -- 580 AM (WDBO) in Orlando; Spanish-language coverage on 1440 AM (WPRD).

PROBABLE STARTERS: Magic -- F Monty Williams (6-8) F Pat Garrity (6-9), C Horace Grant (6-10), G Tracy McGrady (6-8), G Darrell Armstrong (6-1). Suns -- F Shawn Marion (6-7), F Tom Gugliotta (6-10), C Jake Tsakalidis (7-2), G Joe Johnson (6-7), G Stephon Marbury (6-2).

SUNS UPDATE: They are fighting for their playoff lives. They currently are 10th in the Western Conference, well behind No. 8 Utah. If they miss the playoffs, it would mark the first time since the 1987-88 season that they were not involved. The Suns have begun a rebuilding process, and it has been painful. They traded for rookie Joe Johnson and put him in the starting lineup ahead of veteran Penny Hardaway. They are hoping to build the team around young guns Stephon Marbury, Shawn Marion and Johnson. This will be the second game of a four-game Eastern swing.

MAGIC UPDATE: As expected, the Magic signed veteran guard Dee Brown to a 10-day contract, filling the spot on the roster that was held by Mike Miller, who went on the injured list Sunday. Brown, who retired last summer, was working in the Magic's front office. They are hoping he can provide some veteran help, even though he won't be in NBA condition when he returns tonight.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: This will be the first return to Orlando for veteran forward Bo Outlaw, who might have more energy than normal tonight. Outlaw was traded by the Magic to Phoenix earlier this season, and he was not happy.

ETC.: The Suns lost to Miami on Tuesday. . . . Scott Skiles, an original member of the Magic, started the season as the Suns' coach, but he resigned Feb. 17. . . . Frank Johnson, now the head coach, also was one of the Magic's original picks in the expansion draft in 1989. He has a 5-8 record with the Suns.