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Magic visit Hawks for pivotal Game 3

Apr 22, 2011 - 2:36 PM (Sports Network) - After splitting a pair of games in central Florida, the Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks meet in the Peach State Friday for the pivotal Game 3 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinals set.

The Magic evened the series on Tuesday when Dwight Howard, who played the entire 48 minutes in the game, posted 33 points and 19 rebounds and got some much-needed help from his teammates down the stretch as Orlando downed the Hawks, 88-82.

"Like I tell everybody, I'll sleep when I die," Howard told NBA.com. "That's when I'll take my rest. When they put me under the ground. But until then, while I'm on earth, I have to put in work. If I have to play 48 minutes, I'll play 48 minutes. That's why they made these Gatorades."

Howard is averaging 39.5 points and 19 rebounds in the first two games of the series on 71.4 shooting, and has missed just 2:12 of possible playing time.

"I went with him all the way," Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy added. "He was outstanding...I thought everyone played very hard, and that's what it took to get a win."

The Magic won despite having more turnovers than assists (16-9) and shooting a woeful 35 percent from the floor. They did so by making 29-of-36 from the foul line and holding a 52-39 rebounding advantage. Howard, who was named the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year for a record third consecutive season on Monday, committed seven of Orlando's 16 turnovers.

Jameer Nelson chipped in 13 points and eight rebounds and Hedo Turkoglu netted 10 points, including a critical layup in the closing minutes after Atlanta cut its deficit to two.

Jamal Crawford led the way with 25 points for the Hawks, who won the series opener, 103-93, even though Howard erupted for 46 points and 19 rebounds in that one.

"We played good in stretches, but in other stretches [the Magic] did what they had to do. They were the aggressor," Crawford said.

Josh Smith, playing through an elbow injury, scored 17 points for the Hawks, who got 14 points from Joe Johnson and 10 points and 10 rebounds from Al Horford.

In last year's playoffs against Atlanta, the Magic recorded the largest victory margin in a four-game sweep in NBA playoff history, winning the series by a total of 101 points. The Hawks lost all four contests in the set by an average of over 25 points per contest and the closest they ever came in the series was a 98-84 setback in Game 4.

The two teams have met twice in the postseason previously, last year's shellacking by Orlando along with a 4-1 Magic win in the 1995-96 Eastern Conference semifinals. Overall, the Magic are now 9-2 versus the Hawks in the playoffs.

Game 4 of the series is Easter Sunday, also in Atlanta.