- Game info: 7:00 pm EST Wed Mar 22, 2006
- TV: MSG, SUN
On the one-month anniversary of his trade to the New York Knicks, Steve Francis will try to lead his new team to a road victory over his former club, the Orlando Magic.
Francis has struggled to spark any sort of turnaround in his 13 games with the Knicks, who are 4-9 since his arrival. The three-time All-Star is averaging 12.4 points with New York, a decline from his 16.2 mark in his first 46 games with the Magic.
Francis was one of six Knicks to score in double figures on Tuesday, but New York fell 114-109 to the Toronto Raptors. Rookie Channing Frye scored 19 points before leaving with a sprained left knee ligament, sustained when teammate Nate Robinson seemed to knock Andre Barrett into him.
“I apologized to him like 100 times already,” said Robinson, who scored 12 points. “I definitely took full responsibility of what I did. Hopefully it’s minor because I would hate for me to be the one to hurt his career or anything like that.”
Frye’s X-rays were negative, but he will remain in New York for further testing and will not travel with the team to Orlando.
“It could have been a lot worse, but I’ll be back,” Frye said as he left Madison Square Garden on crutches.
The Knicks could use Frye back as soon as possible, as they have lost four of their last six games and have notched just six road wins all season.
The Magic know all too well about struggling away from home. They set a franchise record for consecutive road losses with a 108-102 defeat to the Charlotte Bobcats on Tuesday.
The loss was Orlando’s 16th straight on the road, surpassing a record set in the team’s 1989-90 expansion season. The Magic trailed by as many as 20 points in a game they never led.
“I’m embarrassed by our performance,” Magic coach Brian Hill said. “I hope our players are because they should be. The way we played proved we didn’t respect the game or the team. We just went through the motions.”
Hedo Turkoglu scored 24 points and Dwight Howard added 17 points and 15 rebounds for the Magic, who shot 50 percent from the field.
The Magic have tallied back-to-back losses following a 4-1 stretch. Orlando is in 12th place in the Eastern Conference playoff race, 7 1/2 games behind eighth-place Philadelphia, and will likely miss the postseason for the third straight year
The Magic have won four straight home games.

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