With the trade deadline looming and the future of the Orlando Magic’s franchise player up in the air, Dwight Howard made sure not to disappoint if in fact it was his last home game in a Magic uniform.
The All-Star center posted 24 points and tied a career-high with 26 rebounds to guide the Magic past the Miami Heat, 104-98, in overtime in a thriller at the Amway Center Tuesday night.
With the NBA’s trade deadline less than 48 hours away, Howard has been the focal point of rumors as the Magic decide whether to keep him for the remainder of the season in hopes for one last run or trade him to ensure they don’t lose him for him nothing in free agency. Although, he did give the Magic organization some hope after the game, saying he wanted to stay put for at least the remainder of the year.
“I told (Orlando management) that I want to stay and finish the season. I feel like we have a good opportunity to win. I told them that I want to be able to win a championship here, and I told them to give me a chance,” Howard said. “We’re playing great basketball… I think we have a great chance of surprising a lot of people.”
Despite the constant speculation that follows the Magic, they were able to notch their third straight win, all against playoff-bound teams, including the Eastern Conference leading Chicago Bulls and tonight’s triumph over Miami.
Howard led four players in double figures, while using a solid defensive effort to down the Heat and finish 2-0 against the defending Eastern Conference champs in Orlando this year.
Jameer Nelson posted a team-high 25 points, while JJ Redick had 17 and Ryan Anderson chipped in 16 points and 12 rebounds for Orlando.
Even with a well-balanced attack, the Magic needed an extra five minutes to put away Miami, who came into the game with a three-game winning streak of their own.
With the game knotted at 91, Nelson nailed a three-pointer with 44 seconds left in the contest to give the Magic a three-point advantage. However, on the next possession, Dwyane Wade answered back with a three-point bucket of his own to tie the game.
Wade, who entered the game with just three triples all season, hit two long balls Tuesday night, including the one that sent the game into overtime, which was his first regular-season game with multiple three-pointers since March of last year.
On the ensuing play, Nelson attempted another three-pointer, but came up just short, setting up a final play for Miami. After hitting the game winner against Indiana just three days prior, Wade’s attempt from just inside the perimeter over a reaching Redick just rimmed out as the buzzer expired, sending the game into overtime.
In the extra period, Orlando would outscore Miami 10-4, using a combined eight points from Howard and Nelson to finally put down the Heat. It was Nelson, however, that put the Magic in a great position to win with his consistent attack mentality throughout the night.
“He was tremendous tonight. Best he’s played, maybe all year, certainly in a game where we needed it,” Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy said.
Wade led the Heat with 28 points, to go along with six rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks. Chris Bosh had a strong game with 23 points and eight boards, while LeBron James added 19 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in the losing effort. Mario Chalmers chipped in 10 points for Miami.
Despite the solid second-half showing, the Magic had to rally from a first-half deficit to get the win over their Southeast Division rivals. After holding a lead for the majority of the first half, the Heat used a scorching 20-0 run in the final six minutes of the second quarter to take a 56-45 lead into halftime.
The run started with back-to-back three-pointers from little-used forward James Jones, and continued with nine points from LeBron James. During that span, Miami limited Orlando to just four points and the run didn’t stop until a Redick jumper with less than a minute remaining in the half.
Still, the Magic didn’t let the big run rattle them, as they were able to outscore the Heat 27-17 in the third quarter and limit Miami to just 37 second-half points.
“I thought our bounce back from a disastrous end of the second quarter was great. They had 21 fast break points before halftime. They had two fast break points in the second half. We out-rebounded them by 11. I thought our guys fought really hard,” Van Gundy said. “We turned it over way too much obviously, but it was a hard-fought game. Both teams played hard and well. It was a battle, and I was proud of our guys.”
Orlando’s stingy defense played a large factor in the victory, as they held the Heat to 44 percent shooting from the field, including 35 percent (eight-of-23) from beyond the arc in the game. In addition, the disparity in free-throw shooting helped Orlando immensely as the Magic went to the line 37 times, converting 21 of them, while limiting the normally foul shooting happy Heat to just 11 attempts from the charity stripe.
“We had some attacks and got to the rim at times, but I don’t know. We are an attack team. We had 23 threes (attempts), and we can’t win a game when we shoot more threes than more free throws,” James said.
Orlando was also able to limit the Heat to just two fast break points in the final half after allowing them to get 21 in the first half. The Magic also outrebounded their counterparts 46-36 in the game, and edged them in second-chance points, 16-9.
It was another overall strong effort from the Magic, who appear to be playing their best ball of the season recently. They have wins over three of the top five seeded East squads in the last week and have established themselves as the clear No. 3 seed in the conference.
“It’s great. This is the way we’ve been wanting to play, just the entire game. Whenever they got a lead, we answered and this is what we’ve needed to do,” Anderson said. “We needed to get a win, a consistent win. The way we’ve been playing right now, we’re playing great. It’s huge.”
Orlando will look to continue their recent streak over elite teams when they head to San Antonio Wednesday to face the Southwest Division leading Spurs.
Whether Dwight Howard suits up for that game remains to be seen. Tip-off is set for 8:30 p.m.
