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No Nelson, no problem as Johnson shoots Magic past Clippers

Feb 5, 2009 - 5:24 AM ORLANDO, Florida (Ticker) -- For at least one game, All-Star guard Jameer Nelson was not missed by the Orlando Magic. Anthony Johnson made sure of that.

Johnson had a season-high in points in the first half and the Magic cruised to a 125-96 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday.

The Magic were playing without Nelson for the first time since learning he will be sidelined indefinitely after an MRI on Tuesday revealed a torn labrum in his right shoulder. Nelson suffered the injury in the third quarter of Monday's 105-95 loss to the Mavericks.

Johnson took it upon himself to make up for Nelson's absence and did so with an impressive shooting display.

"We were leaving him open hoping he would be the one to miss. That just didn't happen," Clippers guard Baron Davis said.

Johnson finished with 25 points, 20 coming in the first half when he was 7-of-8 from the field, including 6-of-7 from the arc. His hot shooting helped Orlando open up a 72-48 lead at the half and the Clippers never threatened thereafter.

"I just decided to put things on my shoulders for this squad, It feels good to be able to set the tone early on," Johnson said. "When teams leave me open, I am going to make them pay."

Al Thornton scored 27 points for Los Angeles, which has lost seven straight.

"With a team hitting shots like that they are really tough to defend," Thornton said. "You can't let Dwight get it in too deep, it is either a bucket or a foul."

Led by Johnson, the Magic put the Clippers away over the first two quarters. Orlando shot 67 percent (28-of-42) from the field and made 12-of-16 threes before the break.

Dwight Howard added 12 points and 15 rebounds, Courtney Lee scored 21 points off the bench and Hedo Turkoglu scored 20 points for Orlando, which has won four of five.

"Even though it is not likely that Jameer will return, we still have not lowered our expectations of winning a championship," Howard said. "A.J. is a veteran and he has been in similar situations before so he knows how to handle the pressure."

Eric Gordon scored points 14 for the Clippers, who have lost 21 of their last 23 games and have not beaten the Magic since December 3, 2006, a span of five games.