• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Sunshine State bragging rights on the line as Magic host Heat

Nov 24, 2010 - 3:44 PM (Sports Network) - The second version in the battle of Florida will take place tonight in Orlando, where the Magic will welcome LeBron James and the Southeast Division-rival Miami Heat to Amway Center.

The Magic dropped the first meeting, 96-70, on Oct. 29 at Miami, as Dwyane Wade led the way with 26 points and James registered 15 points, seven assists and six boards. Dwight Howard battled foul trouble in the second half and finished with 19 points and seven rebounds for Orlando, which has still won 14 of the past 18 meetings in the series.

Orlando has won seven of eight and eight of its last 10 as the host in this series. It had a four-game overall winning streak stopped with Monday's 106-97 loss at San Antonio and got 26 points and 18 boards from Howard in defeat. Jameer Nelson added 15 points and Rashard Lewis tallied 14 for the Magic, who will shoot for their third straight home win tonight.

"I think for us to be able to win a game like that against a very good team on the road, there is two things I think have been regular problems for us that we have to get cured," said Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy. "One is the turnovers. The second thing is we have to be able to both close down the lane and close on shooters."

The Magic will also welcome Cleveland to central Florida and is 6-2 as the host this season. Magic sharp-shooter Vince Carter played less than 17 minutes because of a sprained left knee and is questionable for Wednesday. He has scored eight points in back-to-back contests.

Miami has dropped back-to-back games since a three-game winning streak and is coming off Monday's 93-77 loss to the visiting Indiana Pacers.

James finished with 25 points, six assists, and five boards for the Heat, who will try to end a two-game slide on the road tonight. Chris Bosh added 21 points and 11 rebounds in a losing cause for his third straight double-double. Wade, who sat out the last game with a wrist injury, went just 1-of-13 from the floor for a season-low three points.

"Games like this you can't predict," Wade said. "I think we did some good things defensively against a great offensive team. We played decent. We rebounded the ball, not as good as them but without a lot of guys we did a decent job. I don't think I've gone 1 for 13 before."

The Heat shot 38.7 percent from the floor and was outrebounded by a 48-39 margin. They were also outscored, 35-19, in the second quarter.