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Howard continues dominance as Magic rout Warriors

Jan 11, 2007 - 8:03 AM OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- It was all in a night's work for Dwight Howard.

Howard dominated the interior, scoring a career-high 30 points and grabbing a season-high 25 rebounds, leading the Orlando Magic to a 91-76 victory over the Golden State Warriors.

It was the 27th double-double of the season and 11th in the last 12 games for the 21-year-old Howard, who already is regarded as one of the league's young superstars.

"I've just been trying to push myself in practice to get every rebound, every block, try to score every time and also get my teammates involved and try to implement that in a game," Howard said.

Entering Wednesday's contest averaging 17.0 points and 12.5 rebounds, Howard continued to dwarf opposing big men with his power. He shot 11-of-18 from the floor and 8-of-15 from the free-throw line while also recording his fourth 20-rebound game of the campaign.

"It's all about our team. This is our year, I think," Howard said. "We've just got to buckle down on some defensive things and also get better with moving the ball and also on the offensive side. Once we get our continuity going, and our chemistry with each other, we'll be a hard team to beat."

Leading the NBA in boards, the 6-11 Howard posts enormous rebounding numbers with such regularity, his monster outputs are expected. On Wednesday, however, Howard showed glimpses of offensive versatility, supplementing his strong dunks with agile moves in the low post.

"Every game (Howard's) getting better and better," Magic guard Keyon Dooling said. "He's adding something to his game, every single game. He's obviously the best rebounder in the league, but now, he's really starting to put people in the basket instead of fading away with his jump hook and starting to take his game to another level."

Dooling was 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-4 on 3-pointers.

"Guys did a good job of driving and kicking, and I made some open shots," Dooling said. "It was all started by Dwight dominating in the paint. They went to a zone and we were able to get some open looks in the zone."

Providing the perimeter complement for Howard was Keith Bogans, who scored a season-high 16 points. He made 6-of-9 shots from the floor, including a 3-of-5 showing from 3-point range.

The Magic shot just 41 percent (34-of-84) from the field but used a 52-45 advantage on the glass to secure their fifth straight win.

Baron Davis had 13 points and eight assists and Monta Ellis added 14 points for the Warriors, who shot just 37 percent (28-of-75) in losing for the third time in their last four games.

"It happens like this sometimes," Ellis said. "Every team goes through this at home and on the road. There's a lot of basketball left in the season so we just need to stick together and do what we do and we'll be all right."