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.