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Magic beat Nets, and snow, for 3rd straight win

Dec 28, 2010 - 5:44 AM Newark, NJ (Sports Network) - The Orlando Magic may have been late getting to the Prudential Center because of a winter storm, but they made up for it on the court by handling the New Jersey Nets 104-88.

A severe winter storm left as much as two feet of snow on the Newark area Sunday, enough to delay the Orlando team bus as it became stuck in a snowbank on the way to the arena.

Hedo Turkoglu scored 20 points, Dwight Howard notched a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds and Ryan Anderson finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds in a reserve role for Orlando, which has won three straight following a four-game skid.

"We didn't want it to get that close," Howard stated. "We just tried to do the best we can of the defensive end. Luckily we got a good win."

Devin Harris led the Nets with 24 points and Brook Lopez finished with 20 points and seven rebounds for New Jersey, which has lost two straight.

The Nets have not beaten the Magic since April 2009.

New Jersey led 25-24 after a back-and-forth first quarter, but only shot 36.8 percent from the field in the second, which allowed the Magic to take a 51-44 lead at the half.

Howard led the way in the third with 11 points as Orlando widened its lead to 81-69 heading to the fourth quarter.

The Magic lead remained above 15 down the stretch, and after a pair of three- pointers -- one from Jameer Nelson, one from Turkoglu -- it hit a game-high 23.

The threes capped a 10-2 Orlando run that stretched into the final three minutes of play.

"On a night like tonight when our defense is not as good as it's been recently we've got to score the ball," Nets coach Avery Johnson said. "This is another night when we didn't score and that's a problem."

Game Notes

J.J. Redick finished with 15 points, Jason Richardson scored 14 and Brandon Bass added 11 points for the Magic...Orlando's Gilbert Arenas, who ended with nine points in a reserve role, hit a shot from the three-point arc on the other side of the court at the first-half buzzer, but the ball bounced off the rim and then the shot clock and was disallowed...Orlando won the rebounding margin 46-39...The teams committed a combined 29 turnovers (14 for Orlando, 15 for New Jersey)...Travis Outlaw and Jordan Farmar both accounted for 10 points in the loss...The Nets outscored Orlando 44-30 in the paint.