4. T-Mac provokes the Pistons, 2002
Back in the early 2000s the Orlando Magic and the Detroit Pistons had quite a thing going.
Detroit was building an eventual champion while Orlando was still trying to get the whole Tracy McGrady, Grant Hill, Mike Miler experiment to bear fruit. While it sputtered, McGrady went nuts, scoring a magnificent 46 points to secure a close-fought Christmas encounter.
Interestingly, it was McGrady who nearly did not play in this Christmas tilt before going on a scoring binge, according to Jerry Brewer of the Orlando Sentinel:
"The voice on the other end did not sound hopeful. Grant Hill was convinced that Tracy McGrady would not play. Hill had called McGrady at 9 Tuesday night to check on him. “Man, I don’t think I can go tomorrow,” McGrady told him. Nineteen hours later, McGrady had his index finger in the air and a 104-99 victory in his grasp as an announced crowd of 13,725 cheered loudly at TD Waterhouse Centre. McGrady was at his best Wednesday, even as he winced. He scored 46 points, even after missing three of the past four games with a bruised lower back. And the Orlando Magic (16-14) won, even as his teammates hiccuped through so many missed layups."
Unfortunately, that win made the Pistons mad and they used it and, more importantly, McGrady’s Game Four postgame interview as fuel for a comeback series win in the first round of the playoffs later that year.
Next: Magic roll past Chris Paul, Hornets