Magic Pull Skunk Out Of Hat

Just when the Orlando Magic thought things couldn’t get much worse, along came the Cleveland Cavaliers and the NBA’s stingiest defense.

The result was a new low. Or at least a record-tying low.

The injury-depleted Magic tied the record for fewest points in a game Wednesday night as they were routed 84-57 by the Cavs, who limited the defending Atlantic Division champions to one field goal in the fourth quarter.

Orlando became the third team since the advent of the 24-second shot clock to be held to 57, matching the output by the Milwaukee Hawks in a Feb. 27, 1955 loss to Boston and Philadelphia’s futility against Miami on Feb. 21, 1996.

Orlando played without starters Penny Hardaway, Dennis Scott and Nick Anderson - not to mention Shaquille O’Neal, who’s now with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Hardaway, recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery performed on Nov. 17, has worked out this week and could return to the lineup during a nine-day, five-game road trip that starts in Los Angeles on Friday.

“It’s all relative when you take their three top scorers away, but we knew we had to take advantage of the situation,” said Cleveland coach Mike Fratello, whose team didn’t capitalize on the Magic being shorthanded during an 86-82 loss to Orlando last week.

In other games

Karl Malone scored 26 points, including 17 in the third quarter, as the Utah Jazz clobbered the Los Angeles Lakers 101-75 for their 12th straight win.

“I’ve never felt better or had as much fun as I have this season,” said Malone.

John Stockton scored 18, including four 3-pointers, as Utah closed within two victories of the franchise record of 14 straight wins in 1995.

Charles Barkley scored 19 points and grabbed 27 rebounds as the Houston Rockets, bolstered by the return of Hakeem Olajuwon from a heart problem, held off the Boston Celtics 94-89. Olajuwon, returning after missing Monday’s loss at Toronto because of a second episode of an irregular heartbeat in two weeks, played 40 minutes and had 16 points, five blocked shots and seven rebounds… . Dominique Wilkins, playing in his 1,000th NBA game, scored 24 points to help the Spurs break their eight-game losing streak with a 113-103 victory over Philadelphia. The injury-plagued Spurs, who have played all season without All-Star center David Robinson, improved to 3-13 with their first win since beating the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 13. They are hopeful Robinson might see his first action of the season on next week’s trip to Golden State, Phoenix and Los Angeles.

Garnett to miss road trip

Off to the best start in the history of the franchise, the Minnesota Timberwolves had their biggest setback of the season when Kevin Garnett fell to the floor with an ankle injury against the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday.

The Timberwolves said today that X-ray and MRI results showed no major damage, but that Garnett will not accompany the team on its upcoming three-game road trip.

Notes

The Phoenix Suns traded forward Chucky Brown to the Milwaukee Bucks for swingman Darrin Hancock and a conditional second-round draft pick. It took John Stockton 15 games to catch Mark Jackson for the league lead in assists. Prior to Wednesday’s game, they were both averaging 10.9 per game. Stockton has averaged 12.5 assists (138) in his last 11 games… . The Pistons are the only NBA team that still has not allowed 100 points in a game.