and 16 rebounds in a bruising battle with Shaquille O'Neal, and the
Orlando Magic beat Cleveland 101-95 on Sunday for the Cavaliers' first
three-game losing streak in two years.
Cleveland's skid comes on the heels of a 13-game win streak.
Howard was 8-for-13 shooting and added four
blocks, and Vince Carter had eight of his 11 points in the fourth
quarter to help the Magic beat Cleveland for the first time this season.
O'Neal made his first eight shots and finished
with 20 points, and LeBron James had 33 points and nine rebounds for
the Cavaliers, who were eliminated by Orlando in last year's Eastern
Conference finals.
The hoopla surrounding the Howard-Shaq
squabble over the Superman nickname finally lived up to the billing,
even though the drama in the end came on the perimeter.
Carter made a two-handed dunk over heavy
traffic, and followed that with a layup over Antawn Jamison, pumping
his fist to the crowd in celebration. Jameer Nelson came back with a
3-pointer to put the Magic ahead 96-88 with about 2 minutes to play.
O'Neal tipped in a missed shot, and Anthony
Parker made a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to three. But after James
missed a 3-pointer on Cleveland's next possession, Rashard Lewis made a
3 — from the same spot where he sent the Game 6 clincher into overtime
last year — with 20.1 seconds remaining to seal the Magic's win.
Until the last few minutes, though, it was Superman vs. Superman.
O'Neal has been known as the comic book
superhero for most of his 17-year NBA career, and he had taken
exception with Howard getting the same nickname. It didn't help that
Howard has erased much of O'Neal's shadow in Orlando – where he spent
four years in the mid-90s – and has restored the Magic to prominence.
The two put on quite a show.
O'Neal grabbed a rebound and caught Howard
under the basket, hammering a powerful one-handed dunk over the young
center in the opening quarter. Shaq added a put-back dunk, an alley-oop
tip and a three-point play over Howard all before the half in the first
time this season that fouls didn't sideline the big men for significant
time.
At the other end of the floor, Howard used
his youth and agility to wiggle around O'Neal almost at will, slicing
through the paint for layups and hook shots and making the elder center
sprint down the court. Howard also banked a jumpshot from the wing and
his defensive presence helped Orlando go ahead 46-35 late in the second
quarter.
Then James took over, scoring Cleveland's
final 10 points of the half – the last coming on a three-point play
over Matt Barnes with 1.1 seconds left – to trim the Magic's lead to
six.
After starting his Cleveland career 0 for 12
from the field, Jamison made his first shot of the game, a layup with
7:29 remaining in the first quarter. He also made the first four
baskets of the second half and finished with 19 points.
But he still doesn't know what it feels like to win with his new team.
Notes
Gina Marie Incandela sang the national anthem, the same 7-year-old girl
the Magic had perform for most of their surprising NBA finals run last
season. Orlando was 7-0 when she sang until losing consecutive home
games to the Los Angeles Lakers in the finals. … Howard and O'Neal
had a simple fist bump before the opening tip. … Yankees ace CC
Sabathia was sitting in the front row behind one basket.