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Howard powering Magic surge

Nov 22, 2008 - 11:33 AM Houston (8-5) at Orlando (9-3) 7:00 p.m. EST

ORLANDO, Florida (Ticker) -- Dwight Howard has the Orlando Magic surging toward the top of the standings.

Howard and the Magic go for their sixth straight win on Saturday when they host the Houston Rockets.

The 22-year-old center, Howard scored 24 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked five shots on Friday, leading Orlando to a 100-98 overtime victory against the Indiana Pacers - the team's ninth win in the last 10 games.

The All-Star leads the team with 21.0 points, 13.5 rebounds and an NBA-best 4.0 blocks per game.

Howard may not have an easy time duplicating those numbers against the Rockets, who hope Yao Ming can slow the Magic big man's production.

After missing Wednesday's game due to a sore left foot, Yao returned on Friday, scoring 18 points and grabbing five rebounds as the Rockets bounced back from a loss to the Dallas Mavericks with a 103-91 victory against the Washington Wizards.

Tracy McGrady scored 14 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and will try to lift Houston to back-to-back wins against his former team. McGrady led the NBA in scoring twice during his four-year tenure with the Magic from 2000-04.