Dwayne Wade’s 27 points led the Miami Heat to a 90-78 win over the Orlando Magic Sunday afternoon.
Wade shot 13 for 23 from the field and scored 12 points in the games first seven minutes.
“I just got into a groove,” Wade said.
LeBron James was 2 rebounds shy of a triple double helping Miami avenge a 102-89 loss to the Magic just 11 days ago.
J.J Redick led the Orlando Magic with 17 points. Redick was inserted into the starting lineup in place of Jason Richardson due to chest pains.
Dwight Howard finished with only 12 points and shot a Shaq-like 2 for 10 from the free throw line.
“They just played harder than us,” said Howard. “They did do well tonight. They clogged the paint. They forced me to pass the ball out. It was a pretty good defensive effort. Every time I caught the ball in the paint, everyone was there.”
Hedu Turkoglu shot 0 for 4 from the field and 0 for 3 from beyond the arc scoring only 1 point for the Magic. This is the kind of inconsistency the Magic have battled with all year long, not just from Hedu but the entire team.
“There are things we can do to play better,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “And I’m sure Erik feels there are things they can do better as well.”
After a Ryan Anderson three gave the Magic their only lead of the game 27-24, it would be down hill from there.
The Heat closed the half on a 19-4 run taking a 43-31 advantage at halftime.
“It was just one of those nights,” Magic guard Quentin Richardson said.
The Magic pulled to within 50-61 on a Redick three with 4:23 left in the 3rd quarter but that’s as close as they would get.
Orlando’s next game will be tonight as they travel to play the Milwaukee Bucks, tip off set for 8pm.
