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Turkoglu's 27 points leads Magic past Heat

Jan 31, 2008 - 4:50 AM ORLANDO, Florida (Ticker) -- The combination of Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis helped the Orlando Magic continue their mastery of the injury-plagued Miami Heat.

Turkoglu scored 13 of his 27 points in the third quarter and also grabbed 12 rebounds as the Magic posted a 107-91 victory over the Heat on Wednesday.

Lewis had 19 points and eight boards and Dwight Howard added 16 and 13 for Orlando, which has won eight straight over its in-state rival.

"Miami didn't have their main guys out there," said Turkoglu, who is being considered for his first All-Star Game appearance. "We knew it was going to be tough because the (Heat) have nothing to lose. They're NBA players who want a chance to go out there and show what they can do."

The Magic, who have won two straight and five of six, also helped their coach Stan Van Gundy continue to get some payback.

Orlando improved to 3-0 this season over the organization that replaced Van Gundy two seasons ago after its president, Pat Riley, wanted to take over the coaching duties in pursuit of his fifth NBA Championship.

When asked why he left four of his starters in to finish the game, Van Gundy downplayed any hard feelings.

"I say this to people all the time because the fans, the media, even assistant coaches always think the game's over," he said. "Sit in the head coach's seat and that perspective changes. It never seems like it's over to me."

Riley got his ring but is now suffering with a 9-35 club, which was without superstars Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal as well as starting power forward Udonis Haslem on Wednesday.

Wade was out with the flu, O'Neal is down indefinitely with hip bursitis and Haslem suffered a sprained left ankle in Tuesday's blowout loss to the Boston Celtics.

"When you're shorthanded, like we are, you try to keep it simple," Riley said. "We are playing guys out of position, but I do want to take a look at some people."

"It's hard, especially when Dwyane Wade is not there," Lewis said when asked whether the Heat's injury situation affected the Magic's focus. "Shaq's not there, Haslem's not there, Alonzo Mourning is out. It's hard to be motivated to play against teams like this."

After the Magic took a 30-25 lead after one quarter thanks to 10 points by Maurice Evans, Turkoglu and Lewis took over the middle periods.

Lewis, who connected on 7-of-16 from the floor, scored 14 in the second to help give Orlando a 63-52 advantage at intermission.

Turkoglu, who was 8-of-13 from the field, poured in 13 in the third despite the Heat reducing their deficit to 83-76 entering the final quarter.

After Miami cut its deficit to 83-80 on a 20-foot jumper by rookie Daequan Cook a minute into the fourth, the Magic went on a 18-1 burst capped by a pair of free throws by Turkoglu to make it 101-81 with 6:03 remaining.

"I thought our guys played hard," Riley said. "There were three or four times where we cut it to five or four but they kept getting enough separation where we were going to have to make some stops. We just couldn't make enough stops."

Howard, who did not address the media following the game, had his NBA-leading 41st double-double and Turkoglu collected his fifth of the season for Orlando, which shot 49 percent (34-of-69) and crushed Miami, 52-29, on the glass.

"Glad to have that win, but it was a scary game," Van Gundy said. "I thought our guys clamped down finally in the fourth quarter. We did a good job on the boards all night long. That was a key part of it."

Ricky Davis scored 21 points and reserve Chris Quinn scored 14 for the Heat, who shot 42 percent (33-of-78) and have dropped two straight and 17 of 18 to remain at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.