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Howard, Magic clash with Bobcats at Amway Center

Feb 27, 2011 - 4:08 PM (Sports Network) - All-Star center Dwight Howard is beginning to pick up steam for the Orlando Magic, who will continue a seven-game homestand tonight against the Charlotte Bobcats from Amway Center.

Howard has scored 30 or more points in four straight games, averaging 33.5 points over that stretch, and has produced double-doubles in each of his last 17 games, including a 40-point, 15-rebound performance in Friday's 111-88 blowout of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The chiseled big man also swatted six shots for the Magic, who are 3-2 on the residency and 22-9 at home.

Jason Richardson had 17 points and Jameer Nelson finished with 14 and nine rebounds in a winning cause. The Magic outscored the Thunder, 31-18, in the fourth quarter and sank 10-of-22 from three-point territory. They also held OKC to 33.3 percent shooting for the game.

"We came out and did everything we were supposed to from the start," said Richardson.

Orlando is seeded fourth in the Eastern Conference standings. Howard has also averaged 13.8 rebounds and 3.5 blocks in his last four games. The Magic will wrap up their homestand versus New York on Tuesday.

Charlotte will hit the road for four games against the Magic, Nuggets, Lakers and Blazers, and is 10-18 away from Time Warner Cable Arena this season.

The Bobcats, who dealt Gerald Wallace to Portland at the NBA trade deadline, are coming off Friday's 110-98 win over visiting Sacramento. Stephen Jackson had 30 points and D.J. Augustin added 23 in the win, Charlotte's second straight and fourth in five tries. The Bobcats scored 25 points off 18 Sacramento turnovers.

"I'm ecstatic," Bobcats coach Paul Silas said. "The way we started the game off and the way we ended it was phenomenal. They played so hard and so well, guys really stepped up."

Gerald Henderson scored 21 points and Kwame Brown ended with 12 and 13 boards to help the cause. Charlotte is 17-13 under Silas after going 9-19 with Larry Brown at the helm for the season's first 28 contests. Bobcats newcomers Joel Przybilla and Dante Cunningham could make their debuts tonight in the Magic Kingdom, while D.J. White and Morris Peterson were also acquired before the trade deadline.

The Bobcats are a half-game off the eighth and final postseason spot in the Eastern Conference.

Orlando won the first of four meetings with Charlotte, 91-88, back on Nov. 6 at Time Warner Cable Arena thanks to 22 points from both Howard and Rashard Lewis. Orlando has won 11 of 13 and 12 of the last 15 meetings with the Bobcats, losers in 10 of the 12 matchups as the guest in this series.