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March 13, 2010

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Home » Sports » Basketball

Orlando pushes winning streak to 7

Source: Agencies | March 13, 2010, Saturday | Print Edition

THE Orlando Magic stormed to a season-high seventh consecutive win with a 111-82 rout of the Chicago Bulls on Thursday in Florida.

Vince Carter scored a team-high 23 points in just 26 minutes as the Magic outscored their opponents 65-33 during the first half to quickly put the contest out of reach.

Orlando (46-20) posted five players in double-figures for scoring to maintain its Southeast Division lead at four games over the Atlanta Hawks.

It was a sixth straight loss for the Bulls (31-33), whose night started badly when point guard Derrick Rose hurt his wrist in the first quarter after a collision with Dwight Howard and did not return.

Rose's injury was the latest for Chicago, who were without leading defender Joakim Noah, sidelined with a foot ailment, and Luol Deng, who has a calf strain.

"They started the game a little undermanned, and then obviously when Rose went down, they were very undermanned," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said.

James Johnson scored a team-high 13 for the Bulls, who shot just 39 percent as they fell to their longest losing streak since 2006.

The slumping Bulls are currently outside of the playoff picture in ninth place in the Eastern Conference.

Orlando, however, are on the rise and hitting form as the postseason approaches. Matt Barnes put in 14 points and Brandon Bass notched 13 off the bench during a complete team effort.

"Right now we're trying to play the best basketball we can, hopefully roll it into the playoffs," Carter said.

"We're hitting the floor running, playing at a high level, and each and every night the opponent doesn't matter, it's more about what we need to do to get better."

In Thursday's only other NBA game, the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Washington Wizrds 105-99 in Washington.

Jamal Crawford scored 29 points to help Atlanta win its first game in three matches.

Joe Johnson and Al Horford each scored 18 points in Atlanta's first trip to the nation's capital this season for the makeup of a game that was postponed on February 6 due to a blizzard.

Andray Blatche had 30 points and 10 rebounds for Washington, in the midst of a stretch of three games in three nights because of the schedule change.

Crawford scored 12 points in the final 3:37 of the third quarter, making six free throws and connecting on two of his four made 3-pointers.
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