Magic 100, Bobcats 79
Dwight Howard topped 20 rebounds for the second straight night and the 50th time in his career as he led the Orlando Magic to a 100-79 victory over the host Charlotte Bobcats on Friday.
Howard had 20 points, 24 rebounds and four blocked shots as Orlando (3-1) won its third straight game. Howard also had 24 boards – two short of his career high – in Thursday’s victory over New Jersey.
Ryan Anderson scored a game-high 23 points, Jason Richardson tallied 16 points Hedo Turkoglu added 15 for the Magic.
Corey Maggette scored 20 points for Charlotte (1-2), which lost its second consecutive contest.
The Bobcats trailed by double digits most of the middle two quarters but cut Orlando’s lead to 75-66 on a basket by Byron Mullens with 10:43 remaining.
Anderson hit two 3-pointers and Larry Hughes also drained one from behind the arc as Orlando responded with a 17-7 run to build a 19-point lead with 4:20 to play.
Orlando was 12-of-28 from 3-point range with Anderson making five.
D.J. Augustin had 14 points and Mullens added 12 for the Bobcats, who shot just 36.1 percent from the field.
The Magic scored the first 11 points and never trailed. Orlando took a 16-point lead late in the half on Turkoglu’s 3-pointer, and led 56-43 at halftime.