DALLAS (Reuters) - The Orlando Magic recorded their ninth successive win by beating the Dallas Mavericks 117-107 on Saturday, boosted by 13 points and 17 assists by Hedo Turkoglu.
Trailing by three points early in the fourth quarter, the Magic went on a 20-2 run sparked by Turkoglu, who scored five points and had five assists during the key five-minute spurt.
"Hedo was great tonight passing the ball," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy told reporters.
Dallas got off to a quick start and led by as many as 16 points late in the first half but fell for the fifth time in seven games since Dirk Nowitzki went down with a knee injury.
"We need to focus on our defense and our rebounding," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "That's going to have to be a constant force to be successful, regardless of our personnel."
The win allows the Magic to tie the franchise record for consecutive wins.
"I thought it would take a lot longer to be playing at the level we are," said Van Gundy, whose team reshaped its roster with two trades on December 18th.
"Clearly, our defense is not where it needs to be, but our guys have come together and played with pretty good chemistry for a team that hasn't been together long. I have to give them a lot of credit for that. It's impressive."
Dwight Howard recorded a double-double for the Magic with 23 points and 13 assists and Jason Anderson added 20 points. DeShawn Stevenson led the Mavericks with 24 points.
(Reporting by Mike Mouat in Windsor, Ontario. Editing by Alastair Himmer)
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