Magic 100, Bobcats 86
Dwight Howard had 20 points and 10 rebounds as the Orlando Magic posted a 100-86 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Sunday night.
Brandon Bass scored 17 points and Gilbert Arenas added 16 on four 3-pointers off the bench for the Magic, who have won two straight since an embarrassing loss to Sacramento out of the break that caused Howard to call out the entire team for not playing hard.
Howard, who entered with four consecutive 30-point games, recorded his 10th straight game with 20-plus points and 10-plus rebound. He also added two steals and two blocks.
Stephen Jackson scored 35 points as the Bobcats had their two-game winning streak snapped and now head west for games against Denver, the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland. The Bobcats are one-half game behind Indiana for the eighth spot in the East.
Orlando shot 63 percent in the first half and led by as many as 15 behind Howard’s 14 points. Charlotte closed the half on an 8-1 run to get within 59-51 at the break, but Hedo Turkoglu drained a 3-pointer with 7:50 left in the third to rebuild a double-digit lead for Orlando, which led comfortably thereafter.