Dwight Howard had 26 points, 15 rebounds and five blocked shots to lead the Orlando Magic to a convincing 111-88 victory over the host Phoenix Suns on Sunday.
Brandon Bass scored 17 points and Gilbert Arenas scored 16 points for Orlando (42-25).
Playing in place of injured star Steve Nash, Aaron Brooks had 19 points and 10 assists for Phoenix (33-31).
Orlando led by nine points at halftime but opened up the contest by holding the Suns to 13 third-quarter points.
Howard’s basket with 1:50 left in the third quarter gave Magic a 20-point advantage and the lead topped out at 28 points in the final quarter.
Nash missed the contest with a pelvic injury that has bothered him over the past week to 10 days. Nash also is expected to miss Monday’s game against the Houston Rockets.
Brooks had 19 points and seven assists in the first half while making 8 of 10 shots. He didn’t score in the second half, missing all four shots.
Jammer Nelson added 14 points and Hedo Turkoglu scored 13 for the Magic.
Orlando outrebounded Phoenix 57-40 and held the Suns to 38.8 shooting.
Phoenix trailed 34-33 early in the second quarter before Orlando went on a 15-3 run to take Magic a 49-36 lead with 5:43 left on Arenas’ 3-point basket.
Orlando | Phoenix | |
Dwight Howard 26 | Scoring | Aaron Brooks 19 |
Chris Duhon 4 | Assists | Aaron Brooks 10 |
Dwight Howard 15 | Rebounds | Hakim Warrick 8 |
Dwight Howard 8 | Free Throws Made | Hakim Warrick 5 |
Gilbert Arenas 3 | Steals | Mickael Pietrus 2 |
Dwight Howard 5 | Blocks | Josh Childress 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Orlando | 111 | 45.3 | 8-24 | 25-36 | 15 | 57 | 6 | 10 | 12 |
Phoenix | 88 | 38.8 | 4-15 | 22-32 | 18 | 40 | 6 | 7 | 12 |