ORLANDO, Fla. – Grant Hill scored 17 points and had nine rebounds, and Steve Francis nearly posted a triple-double in the Orlando Magic’s 94-84 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night.

Before this season, a stress fracture in Hill’s left ankle limited him to 47 games since joining the Magic in 2000. But he has already played on back-to-back nights, and is expected to do it again on Wednesday when Orlando visits Washington.

Hill entered Tuesday’s game averaging 15 points, three rebounds and three assists – numbers below his career averages. But he performed well against Dallas, despite seven turnovers, to help the Magic improve to 3-1 on the season.

Francis had 16 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, Hedo Turkoglu had 19 points in a reserve role, and rookie Dwight Howard added 15 points and 11 rebounds for Orlando.

Since Hill arrived in Orlando, the Magic never advanced out of the first round of the playoffs in three tries and last season collapsed into a 21-61 disaster.

Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 20 points, but made only five of 16 shots from the field. Dallas (4-1) shot just 29 percent (28 of 96) from the field.

The Mavericks lost shooting guard Michael Finley to a sprained ankle in the third quarter. He is listed as day to day after a collision with Orlando’s Hedo Turkoglu.

The Magic led by as many as 19 points in the third quarter before Nowitzki led a Mavericks rally that closed the gap to 69-62 going into the final period.

However, Turkoglu and Francis gave the Magic a spark early in the fourth quarter and Dallas never seriously challenged after that.

The Magic grabbed a 50-40 halftime lead after holding the Mavericks to just 27.6 percent shooting the first two periods. Dallas starters made only five of 28 shots from the field, and both Nowitzki and Josh Howard were 0-for-5.

Orlando had its own offensive problems until Francis started a spurt in the middle of the second quarter. Francis scored six points in an 8-0 run that gave Orlando a 31-30 lead with 6:45 to play in the half. The Magic then outscored Dallas 17-5 to go up 48-35, their biggest lead of the half.

Notes: Magic guard Cuttino Mobley left the game with 1:48 left in the second period because of a strained groin and didn’t return. He finished with seven points. … Dallas has held opponents under 100 points in all five games this season.