Charlotte 110, Orlando 100 (OT)

ORLANDO, Fla., April 27 (UPI) -- After having an apparent game-winning three-pointer waved off by the referees in regulation Saturday, Baron Davis made two more in overtime to complete the best game of his career and give the Charlotte Hornets a thrilling 110-100 victory over the Orlando Magic.

In the second straight overtime game of the best-of-five series, Charlotte again won without sidelined leading scorer Jamal Mashburn and took a 2-1 advantage. The Hornets can advance to the conference semifinals for the second straight year with a win Tuesday night.

"We had to win that game twice," Hornets guard David Wesley said.

Bothered by back spasms at the end of Game 2, Davis had 33 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists for his first career playoff triple-double.

"The last couple of days I have been getting treatment, massages and stretching a lot," Davis said. "Once the game started and I was able to get some minutes under my belt, my back started to loosen up, and that is why you saw me dunking."

Davis and everyone else was forced to work overtime after the veteran officiating crew of Bernie Fryer, Luis Grillo and Derrick Stafford disallowed his three-pointer at the end of regulation.

With the score tied, 92-92, and eight-tenths of a second remaining, Davis received an inbounds pass well above the top of the arc and flung in a banker that triggered a temporary celebration. The shot was waved off, even though replays clearly showed Davis released it before time expired.

"That was in my judgment," Fryer said. "Obviously, the way it ran in slow motion and they freeze-frame it, I am probably wrong."

"The game should have been over with," Hornets forward P.J. Brown said. "The replay clearly showed that. You just have to let it go. The shot was in and I guess the guys in black and white are human, too."

Fryer explained that although the clock may have shown the shot to have been released in time, the crew already had determined what type of shot would be allowed.

"In a timeout before the last-second shot, we always say, `OK, what are we going to allow?'" Fryer said. "I am not going to allow catch, turn, pop and shoot. You can rely on the clock, but I am going to rely on my judgment on how long it takes him to get the shot off and he got (it) off really quick. But he did exactly what I said I was not going to allow."

"Initially, I thought it was good," Magic coach Doc Rivers said. "But when you think about it, it is impossible to catch, turn, jump and shoot in 0.8 seconds, and that is basically what Bernie Fryer said right away."

Initially upset at the call, Davis was unaffected in overtime. His three-pointer between free throws by Jamaal Magloire and P.J. Brown gave the Hornets a 97-92 lead.

Orlando's Pat Garrity answered with a three-pointer, but Brown made jumpers from the left baseline on consecutive possessions for a 103-95 lead with 2:07 remaining.

"Your heart sinks a little bit when something like that happens," Hornets coach Paul Silas said. "We thought the game was still winnable and we got off to a good start in overtime. That boosted our confidence."

The Magic got no closer than six points thereafter and Davis sealed it with another three-pointer over Tracy McGrady for a 109-100 lead with 37 seconds left.

"Once you figure out that they're not going to overturn the call, you've got to regroup," Davis said. "We weren't going to let this game slip away. We knew we had momentum going into the overtime. We knew in order to win in the playoffs, you have to maintain your focus and you have to be able to refocus. And I think that's what we did a good job of."

McGrady, nursing a sore back of his own, again led the Magic with 37 points. But the All-Star swingman did not score in overtime and is on the verge of first-round elimination for the third straight year.

"They were the aggressor in overtime," McGrady said. "They came out attacking right away. By the time we tried to attack, it was too late."