ORLANDO, Fla. - The Washington Wizards can take at least one piece of comfort from last night's 112-95 loss to the Orlando Magic: Tracy McGrady didn't torch them relentlessly as he has in recent seasons.

After scoring 19 in the first half, McGrady went quiet for most of the third quarter, taking just three shots in the period. In the fourth, however, McGrady took over, with 11 points in the final period, for a game total of 32, with six assists tossed in for good measure.

And at the end of the evening, McGrady, who shot 11-for-18, got a pair of autographed Michael Jordan shoes for posterity.

Jordan, in his last game in Orlando, nearly notched a triple double with 21 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, and left McGrady with the message: "Enjoy the challenge. Good luck and stay healthy."

"That's what the fans wanted, both of us going at it and competing," said McGrady, who at 23 is in his sixth pro season. "I definitely enjoyed the challenge. That guy is a strong competitor. He don't quit, man. That's how you learn, learn from the best. It was a good experience, but the main thing, we got the win."

Said Jordan: "T-Mac came and he started guarding me and I started guarding him, so right there it was a challenge. I enjoyed it, I'm pretty sure he did, and we competed hard."

The Magic (18-15) got healthy on the Wizards (13-17) from the start, hitting its first six shots. It was all uphill from there for the Wizards, who shot a respectable 49 percent from the field, but couldn't handle Orlando's barrage from the perimeter, where the Magic hit 10 of 20 three-pointers for the game.

"They got into a great rhythm," Wizards coach Doug Collins said. "They picked us apart early. They beat us off the dribble, they hit threes, they laid the ball in the basket. We can't play a 115-point game on the road in here and win. It has to be in the low 90s and we were never able to get a grip. They did whatever they wanted to do offensively."

Orlando, which won its 12th game in the past 13 contests against the Wizards at TD Waterhouse Center, and its 12th in the past 15 overall against Washington, spread the Wizards' zone effectively.

Mike Miller (20 points) and Pat Garrity (21 points off the bench) combined to shoot 8-for-14 from three-point range, while the Magic outscored Washington 44-22 in the paint.

"They can put five guys on the floor that can space you out to the three-point line," said guard Jerry Stackhouse, who had 18 points on 4-for-15 shooting. "At the same time, they have guys that can break you down. You get in a position to try to help, and they're making shots. [Last night] they were making shots. We did some good things, but we got into a game where we were trading shots with them."

Said Jordan: "We knew they'd come in with a quick start. The most important thing is to try to disrupt their rhythm early and we were not able to do that and we found ourselves fighting an uphill battle. It's so easy to get out of tempo with this team because you turn the ball over or you take quick shots and that's leading right into their transition."

The Wizards hung gamely through the second half, getting to within nine in the third quarter, before Miller and Garrity hit consecutive threes at the four-minute mark.

"That was sort of the end of our hanging around," Collins said. "After that, we were really on our heels the rest of the way."