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Magic clinch playoff spot with OT win over Bucks

Mar 17, 2011 - 7:04 AM Milwaukee, WI (Sports Network) - Dwight Howard was dominant with 31 points and 22 rebounds as Orlando overcame late costly fouls to claim a playoff-clinching overtime win over Milwaukee, 93-89, at the Bradley Center.

With the win and Indiana's 92-80 loss to Boston earlier on Wednesday, the Magic locked up a playoff spot and remain fourth in the Eastern Conference.

Hedo Turkoglu notched 19 points -- eight in overtime -- and Jason Richardson had 13 points for the Magic, who have traded wins and losses over the last six games. Jameer Nelson had 10 points, but had a last-second, ill-advised foul on Brandon Jennings to help send the game into the extra session.

"I'm happy to get out of here with a win," Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy said. "We did about everything wrong we could do. Another game with 19 turnovers, we didn't make any free throws, we couldn't stop them, but we got out with a win."

Jennings finished with 23 points and eight assists for the Bucks, who have lost three straight. John Salmons posted 22 points in the loss while Luc Mbah a Moute and Keyon Dooling each scored 10.

The Magic could never pull away in the fourth quarter and only separated themselves by five, 79-74, with 38.4 seconds remaining. But it was from the free throw line where the Bucks would square it away and send the game into overtime.

First, Dooling nailed two from the line with 30 seconds remaining, making it 79-76. After Nelson missed a three-pointer on the other end, he committed a disastrous foul.

With just 4.3 showing the clock, the Bucks handed it to Jennings on an inbounds pass for a game-tying three-pointer. However, Nelson fouled Jennings just as he was picking up his dribble to attempt the long shot. The Bucks guard was rewarded with three free throws and drained all of them to tie it at 79. Following that, Richardson missed the final shot to send the game into the extra session.

With the Magic up by four in overtime, Nelson fouled Jennings again from beyond the arc. This time Jennings made the shot and the free throw for a rare four-point play to deadlock it at 85 with 1:47 left on the clock.

Howard's slam on the next possession put the Magic back in front and Nelson redeemed himself with a pull up jumper with 23.9 ticks left to extend it to 91-87. From there, the Magic held off another Milwaukee comeback.

"He's a great player," Bucks head coach Scott Skiles said of Howard. "I thought the guys were pretty smart about it and tried to hang in. Obviously he's got everybody overmatched with his strength and athleticism. We tried to hold our ground, we tried to foul at smart times. It put fouls on us and that's what happens."

The Magic came out strong, taking a 23-14 lead into the second quarter. That lead grew to as much as 14 in the second and they took a 46-37 advantage at the half.

The Bucks chipped away at the deficit throughout most of the third quarter and took a 64-61 edge into the final frame. The game remained close the rest of the way.

Game Notes

Bucks center Andrew Bogut did not play because of a migraine...Ryan Anderson had seven points and 13 rebounds for the Magic...Milwaukee, which is 17-17 at the Bradley Center, will face New Jersey, New York and Sacramento to finish out a four-game residency...Howard finished 13-of-24 from the free throw line, while the team shot 57.1 percent (20-of-35) from the charity stripe.