Cleveland ? Keith Smart watched from a new courtside seat, but saw a familiar game.

Tracy McGrady scored 35 points and spoiled Smart’s coaching debut with Cleveland, leading the Orlando Magic to a 103-94 victory Tuesday night against the Cavaliers.

McGrady came in as the league’s leading scorer at 30 points per game, and had matched that with 6:55 remaining in the third quarter.

At that point, McGrady had outscored the Cavs’ starters 30-29. He had 33 points after three quarters, and Orlando coach Doc Rivers planned to rest his star before the Cavs rallied.

Cleveland got close with a late run but fell to an NBA-worst 8-35 with its fifth straight loss and first under Smart, who was hired as interim coach Monday when Cleveland fired John Lucas.

“I was happy with the guys because they could have said, ‘Here we go again’, and rolled over,” Smart said. “But they fought tonight. They didn’t give up.”

Zydrunas Ilgauskas led Cleveland with a career-high 35 points, but the Cavs, who have lost 11 of 13, didn’t play much better with Smart calling the shots than they had with Lucas for the first 42 games this season.

Ricky Davis, Cleveland’s leading scorer this season, had just 11 points — 11 below his average.

“We’re at the bottom of the barrel,” Cavs forward Darius Miles said. “We can only go up. It takes time. We’re a young team. Everyone just needs to calm down and relax.”

Smart, whose only head-coaching experience was in the CBA, admitted having some pregame jitters and felt his team — the NBA’s youngest — was a little nervous, too.

Cleveland coach Keith Smart, center, calls his players over during a timeout. Smart, who took over for John Lucas after Lucas was fired by the Cavs on Monday, lost in his debut, 103-94, against Orlando on Tuesday in Cleveland.

“I was ready for this,” he said. “To practice for just a day and a half, and a walk-through, they did pretty good.”

Pat Garrity added 20 points and Jeryl Sasser 14 for Orlando.

Mavs 107, Rockets 86

Dallas — Dirk Nowitzki scored 12 of his 26 points during a gamebreaking second quarter and former Kansas University standout Raef LaFrentz contained Yao Ming, helping Dallas end a three-game losing streak.

Returning home from a dismal West Coast trip, the Mavericks drilled their first four shots — all long jumpers — and led by 12 points early. Although Houston briefly went ahead, Nowitzki helped the Mavericks grab control by moving the offense down low.

Nowitzki rebounded from a scoreless first quarter to score eight of Dallas’ first nine in the second, starting with a layup off a great spin move. The Mavericks went on to outscore the Rockets 29-13 in the quarter.

Kings 109, Nets 102

Sacramento, Calif. — Chris Webber had 36 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists and all five Sacramento starters scored in double figures.

Peja Stojakovic scored 12 of his 26 points in the third quarter. He is averaging 26.1 points in his past seven games for the Kings, who improved to 18-2 at home. Mike Bibby added 13 points and 10 assists and Vlade Divac and Doug Christie each scored 11.

Jason Kidd led New Jersey with 27 points, and also had five rebounds, five assists and three steals in another frustrating night for the Atlantic Division leaders against Sacramento.

Though this one wasn’t nearly as bad as the previous meeting, when the Nets lost by 36 points at home to the Kings on Jan. 9.