ORLANDO, Florida, (Reuters) – Orlando brought the New York Knicks back to Earth with a bump on Tuesday with Dwight Howard grabbing 30 points in the Magic’s 116-110 win.
Howard, dubbed ‘Superman’ by fans, also claimed 16 rebounds and five blocks as the Magic overcame an 11-point deficit in the third quarter to deny the new-look Knicks their second successive win over an Eastern Conference power.
While Howard opened with 17 points in the first quarter, it was team mate Jameer Nelson who took the spotlight in the closing stages, recording 14 of his 26 points in the fourth.
“(Howard) is the reason why we are who we are. We play inside out, and we have guys who can make plays for each other,” Nelson told reporters.
“(The Knicks) have three of the better players in the league. We’re a pretty good offensive team as well.”
The Knicks (30-28) beat the Miami Heat on Sunday in their first major test since acquiring All Star forward Carmelo Anthony and point guard Chauncey Billups in last week’s blockbuster trade.
While New York got 30 points from Billups and Amare Stoudemire, and 25 from Anthony, Orlando’s 20-6 run spanning the third and fourth quarters put the home team in control.
Down the stretch, Nelson nailed 11 consecutive Orlando points to give his team a 108-99 advantage with 4:35 to go.
Ryan Anderson made four three-pointers and scored 16 points to help the Magic overcome the loss of forward Hedo Turkoglu, who was ejected with a second technical foul in the second quarter after he said something to a referee from the bench.
The Magic (39-22) won their third in a row and remain fourth in the East. The Knicks are in sixth place.
