The early spring in their step turned to mud on their boots late, but the Orlando Magic still managed an impressive almost wire-to-wire victory Saturday night against the Houston Rockets.

A fast and furious start faded at the finish, yet the Magic held on for a 109-100 victory when Tracy McGrady delivered one final time, making sure this one was secure.

McGrady ? still buoyed by his performance in the all-star game ? had 39 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, coming to the rescue when everyone's legs got a little heavy. The Magic, 2-1 since the break, have scored 106, 122 and 109 points in their past three victories, still hoping to move up in the Eastern Conference during the final two months of the season.

?If we can ever learn to play defense, we're going to be dangerous,? said Magic Coach Doc Rivers. ?I thought for three quarters, it was a great team effort, but in the fourth, Tracy had to carry us through. I'll take that anytime.?

Darrell Armstrong ? who made all five of his 3-point attempts in the first quarter ? scored 27 points, hitting eight-of-11 shots. Pat Garrity had 17 points and Mike Miller added 15, but they combined for just two points in the fourth.

The Rockets were led by their backcourt of Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley, who each scored 27 points. Forward Kenny Thomas had 21 points and 12 rebounds.

The Magic played bombs-away early, scoring an amazing 42 points in the first quarter and putting on an offensive clinic with McGrady slashing and creating, and Armstrong, Garrity and Miller hitting every shot they took ? or so it seemed.

?I thought that was the best shooting exhibition we've seen all year,? said Houston Coach Rudy Tomjanovich. ?They were playing so free and easy. I thought it might be a blowout, but we fought our way back into the game.? The Magic led by as many as 21 points early in the third quarter, but the Rockets cut it to seven with 3 minutes, 27 seconds remaining when Francis hit a 3-pointer.

?When a 20-point lead turns to seven, of course you're going to get a little nervous,? Garrity said. ?But we just got away from the things we had been doing well early. It helps when you have Tracy on your side.?

McGrady sealed the victory by scoring seven consecutive Magic points. Armstrong finished the team's scoring with six consecutive free throws.

?We were hot like fire early,? McGrady said. ?And fortunately, we had a big enough cushion when things got out of sync. But we had busted our butts too much to give this one away at the end. It's my job to pull us out of it.?

The Magic shot 51.3 percent overall.