Trail Blazers 97, Magic 83
Andre Miller had 22 points, seven rebounds and eight assists and the Portland Trail Blazers overcame a 14-point first quarter to defeat the visiting Orlando Magic 97-83 on Thursday.
Miller made 9-of-15 shots while recording a season-high for points in his return from a one-game suspension as Portland (11-11) won its third straight contest.
Dwight Howard scored a season-best 39 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead Orlando (15-7).
Wesley Matthews scored 20 points and Nicolas Batum added 15 points and 10 rebounds for Portland.
Orlando led 22-14 after the opening quarter but sputtered offensively most of the contest. The Magic scored just 37 second-half points en route to losing their third consecutive game.
Howard didn’t get much help from his teammates as only Rashard Lewis (11 points), Jameer Nelson (11) and J.J. Redick (10) joined him in scoring in double figures.
Marcus Camby grabbed 13 rebounds and LaMarcus Aldridge scored 14 points for Portland.
Miller was suspended for an incident with Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers on Dec. 5. The suspension ended Miller’s consecutive games streaks of 632.