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Magic-Hornets Preview

Feb 26, 2010 - 2:46 AM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Orlando (39-19) at New Orleans (30-28), 9:30 p.m. EDT

With Dwight Howard at the top of his game, the Orlando Magic are driving toward the top of the Eastern Conference.

Howard turned a strong performances earlier this month against the New Orleans Hornets, but a teammate stole the show.

Vince Carter will try to help Howard lead Orlando to another win over the Hornets on Friday night in New Orleans.

Despite sitting out virtually the entire first quarter with foul trouble, Howard recorded a franchise-record 19th straight double-double with 30 points - on 11-of-11 shooting - and 16 rebounds in Wednesday's 110-92 victory at Houston

"I don't think it will just be a stretch," coach Stan Van Gundy said of the play from Howard, who leads the club with 18.7 points and 13.5 rebounds per game. "I just think his game has matured. He's had stretches where he's played well. Now he's changed the way he plays so he's not forcing his way to the basket.

"He's worked hard. He's made improvement and I think he's going to play at a high level all of the time."

The Magic (39-19) have won 13 times during Howard's run, which began Jan. 15. That's helped them move two games ahead of Atlanta in what's become a two-team race the Southeast Division and overtake Boston for second in the East.

Howard had 25 points and 12 rebounds in a 123-117 victory against the visiting Hornets on Feb. 8, but that was a side note to Carter's night.

The veteran guard scored a season-high 48, hitting 19 of 27 shots and 6 of 10 from 3-point range to help Orlando rally from a 17-point second-half deficit.

In six games since then, Carter has averaged 15.3 points. He's second to Howard in scoring with an average 16.4 this season.

If Carter is in line for a breakout performance, it could come against New Orleans (30-28). Carter has averaged 29.1 points on 52.3 percent shooting in his last 11 meetings with the Hornets and surpassed 40 in three matchups.

Howard, meanwhile, has topped 20 twice in 11 career games against the Hornets while averaging 15.5 points and 13.0 rebounds.

The Magic, 4-1 in their last five away from home, will face a New Orleans team that's dropped seven of 11 and is coming off back-to-back road losses, including 115-95 to Milwaukee on Wednesday.

The Hornets were outscored 72-38 in the paint, which doesn't bode well heading into another matchup with Howard.

"We just didn't have enough fight, which is inexcusable for a team like this," rookie point guard Darren Collison said. "Mentally, we weren't in it on the defensive end."

New Orleans, however, held Howard to 12 points and eight rebounds in a 117-85 home blowout on Feb. 18, 2009. The Hornets will attempt to win their third straight there Friday and third in four matchups against Magic.

However, they still won't have All-Star guard Chris Paul, who had 36 points and 10 assists in last season's rout of the Magic and continues to recover from knee surgery.

Collison has tried to carry the scoring load, averaging 23.5 points and 8.9 assists over the past eight games. Fellow rookie Marcus Thornton, who set a franchise record for points in a quarter with 23 and finished with a career-high 37 in a loss to Cleveland on Tuesday, followed with 25 against Milwaukee.

Orlando and New Orleans have split their last eight meetings.