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Howard, Magic to face Paul, Hornets

Feb 18, 2009 - 11:31 AM Orlando (39-13) at New Orleans (31-20) 8:00 p.m. EST

NEW ORLEANS (Ticker) -- Without their usual shot-blocking center left behind in Oklahoma City, the New Orleans Hornets will have to find someone else to stop Dwight Howard.

Howard will be looking to build on a career-best performance when the Orlando Magic face the Hornets on Wednesday.

New Orleans traded center Tyson Chandler to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday in exchange for veterans Joe Smith and Chris Wilcox. Both Smith and Wilcox still have to pass physicals and are questionable for Wednesday, leaving the Hornets thin up front.

Howard set a career high with 45 points on Tuesday in a 107-102 overtime win over the Charlotte Bobcats. The All-Star center also added 19 rebounds for his 18th consecutive double-double - tying Shaquille O'Neal's franchise record.

The Magic needed every one of those points from Howard as well as a 3-pointer from J.J. Redick that forced overtime against Bobcats. Redick, who has seen his playing time increase since Jameer Nelson went down with a shoulder injury, scored 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting in almost 20 minutes.

New Orleans needed some heroics of its own on Tuesday, with Chris Paul driving the lane and hitting a spinning layup with 2.7 seconds left to lift the Hornets to a 100-98 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. David West had 37 points and 11 rebounds in the contest.

The Magic won the first meeting between the teams, 88-68, on Christmas Day as Howard collected 12 and 15 and Hedo Turkoglu scored 20 points. Paul managed just 12 points and four assists in the setback.