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Howard, Turkoglu help Magic past Hawks

Mar 11, 2008 - 3:50 AM ORLANDO, Florida (Ticker) -- Dwight Howard had 26 points and 16 rebounds to lead a balanced attack as the Orlando Magic posted a 123-112 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Monday.

Hedo Turkoglu registered his second career triple-double with 23 points, 13 assists and 10 boards and Rashard Lewis scored 22 for the Magic, who have won four of their last five games.

"Points and assists are easy," said Turkoglu, who was just one rebound shy of a triple-double after three quarters. "(Howard), the No. 1 rebounder in the league, it's hard to get a lot of rebounds off him. They have to bounce way off the rim. He did me a favor at the end and let it go."

"I was playing keep-away from Turk," said Howard, who picked up his league-leading 56th double-double. "I knew he was going to get it. It's tough to get a triple-double. I've never had a triple-double in my whole life."

The Magic's offense was clicking on all cylinders as they shot a sizzling 53 percent (45-of-84) from the floor and received 30 combined points off the bench from Keith Bogans and Carlos Arroyo.

Orlando opened the contest with a 12-2 run, connecting on their first five shots en route to a commanding 38-point effort on 15-of-25 (60 percent) shooting.

"We had great shots," Turkoglu said. "We got a lot of guys that can be creative in the open court ... be unselfish, make the extra pass and knock down shots. That helped us get going."

Turkoglu's 3-pointer right before the end of the first helped Orlando carry an impressive 74-53 edge into the locker room.

The Magic's 74 first-half points were a season high and tied a franchise record.

"Obviously, offensively, we were great in the first half with only two turnovers and shooting the ball well," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "We hung on and kept a pretty comfortable lead and got the job done. For both teams, it was not a defensive night that's for sure."

"They are great 3-point shooting team," Atlanta guard Joe Johnson said. "With (Lewis) and Turkoglu, it is hard to pay so much attention on them when they have Dwight in the middle. I thought we tried to help too much, and they got wide-open looks. They got into a rhythm and were knocking down threes left and right."

The Hawks fell to 7-25 on the road this season and have lost 13 of 14 away from Philips Arena, where they will host the red-hot Houston Rockets on Wednesday.

"How can a team shoot 51 percent from the field, 60 percent from the 3-point line?" Hawks coach Mike Woodson asked. "I mean it's hard to win on the road giving up 120 points."

Johnson had 27 points and 11 rebounds and Mike Bibby netted 23 for Atlanta (26-37), which remains one-half game ahead of the New Jersey Nets (26-38) for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.