Dwight Howard’s 20 points and 17 rebounds led the Orlando Magic to a 108-91 victory over the New Jersey Nets Wednesday night.
Orlando came out the gates firing, out scoring the Nets 34-17, shooting 62.5% from the field and closing the first quarter on a 13-2 run.
The New Jersey fans let it be known that they want Dwight by chanting his name throughout the game.
“Obviously people are excited over potential stuff,” said Magic forward Ryan Anderson, who added 14 points. “It’s something that we don’t let bother us or get in our heads. It’s what we expected. It’s going to happen at a lot of places because obviously we have the best guy in the NBA right now.”
Glen Davis added 16 points, followed by J.J. Redick’s 12 for Orlando. All five Magic starters finished in double figures.
Deron Williams coming off his spectacular performance against the New York Knicks Monday night finished with 23 points and 8 assists also finding humor in all the Howard chants.
“I might not re-sign here because of that,” said Williams jokingly post game.
Orlando led by as many as 22 points in the second half.
However Deron Williams wasn’t going to let his team go down without a fight. Williams connected on 3 straight 3 pointers and hit a jumper scoring 11 points to bring the Nets within 67-57, however Orlando closed the quarter with a 16-9 run pushing the lead back up to 83-66 going into the fourth.
MarShon Brooks scored a career high 24 points for the Nets.
Orlando (22-12) will travel to play the Atlanta Hawks tonight before heading home to host All-Star weekend.
