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Magic cruise past Cavs

Mar 24, 2012 - 4:00 AM Orlando, FL (Sports Network) - Dwight Howard had 16 points and 13 rebounds as the Orlando Magic rolled to a 93-80 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers at Amway Center.

Ryan Anderson added a game-high 17 points with eight rebounds while Hedo Turkoglu finished with 15 points and Jameer Nelson contributed 10 with seven assists in Orlando's second straight win.

"We moved the ball and that's when we play the best," said Anderson. "We want to get better each game, keep improving and eliminate the things that we're struggling with like turnovers, and tightening up our defense."

Antawn Jamison had 16 points to pace the Cavaliers, who also received 15 points and 11 rebounds from Tristan Thompson and 13 points, six assists and four rebounds from Kyrie Irving in their fifth loss in six games.

After an early 10-2 spurt by Cleveland gave the Cavaliers a 10-6 advantage, the Magic took over, reeling off a 23-6 run to jump out to a 29-16 lead with just over a minute remaining in the first.

Orlando carried a 31-20 edge into the second quarter and controlled the opening portion of the frame until a 8-2 swing by the Cavaliers closed the gap to 36-31 on Omri Casspi's short jumper.

The Magic, though, regained the momentum with a Glen Davis dunk followed by an Anderson three-pointer and led by at least eight points for the remainder of the half before closing out the second with a 9-2 run that included seven straight points by Jason Richardson for a 55-40 lead heading into the break.

Cleveland was held to just 36.8 percent shooting through the first 24 minutes, while the Magic connected on 9-of-22 three-pointers as part of a 56.1 percent shooting performance in the first half.

It looked as if Orlando would just cruise to the victory in the second half, but after a thunderous dunk by Howard gave the Magic their fourth 20-point lead of the third quarter, 66-46, Cleveland reeled off a 15-2 run to close the gap to 68-61.

But a pair of Anderson free throws followed by a Davis jumper put an end to the run and gave Orlando back its double-digit lead before Irving's buzzer- beating bank shot made it a 72-63 game entering the fourth quarter.

That would be as close as the Cavs would get, however, as Davis opened the final quarter with a layup and Orlando held a double-digit lead for the remainder of the contest, leading by as much as 21 on Turkoglu's trey before a late 10-2 push by Cleveland accounted for the final margin.

"We didn't play real hard, then we started playing real hard and then we went down again. We're not good enough to afford ourselves the luxury of trying to play that way, especially against a good team like Orlando," Cavaliers head coach Byron Scott said.

Game Notes

Cleveland guard Daniel Gibson missed his second straight game with a sprained left ankle...The Magic finished the game shooting 12-for-35 from three-point range...Cleveland held a 44-38 advantage in points in the paint but were outrebounded, 47-42, by the Magic...Cleveland shot just 37.8 percent in the game, including a 4-for-18 mark from beyond the arc.