NBA: Howard shines in return to Orlando, as Lakers dump Magic

Dwight Howard was booed all throughout his return to Orlando, with the Magic going early and often to the hack-a-Dwight strategy in the game.

Big mistake.

The Los Angeles Lakers avenged a 113-103 loss to the Magic back in December, with Dwight Howard in a starring role in his first game back on the home court of the team that drafted him, via a 106-97 victory, Tuesday (Wednesday, PHL time) at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.

Howard, who had been traded from Orlando to LA last offseason, finished with a game-high 39 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks. He also set a new Lakers record for trips to the foul line and equaled his all-time record, as the Magic attempted to punish him by forcing him to make free throws. "Superman" however, made 25-of-39, or 64 percent.

The win put the Lakers at 34-31 and in solo eighth place out West, a victory above the 33-31 Utah Jazz. The Magic slumped to 18-47, for the second-worst record in the NBA.

A 9-4 run to end the first quarter put the Magic on top by a point, 23-22, following a triple by Al Harrington and a split at the line by Maurice Harkless. The Lakers countered in the second period though with a 14-5 run, getting a 36-26 lead through the efforts of Howard and Metta World Peace.

Two at the line from Howard made it an 11-point lead, 49-38, later in the second, but once again the Magic finished strong, using an 8-1 blast to close within four at the half, 50-46.

The Magic tied things up at 59-all in the third quarter as Harkless and Tobias Harris stepped up their efforts on offense, 6:41 still to play, but 12 straight from LA nearly broke the game wide open, as Kobe Bryant capped the run with a big triple.

It was the Lakers' reserves turn to stretch their advantage at the beginning of the fourth, as Jodie Meeks and Antawn Jamison poured in eight straight to make it 84-68, barely two minutes in. Still, Orlando kept coming, as triples from Beno Udrih and E'Twaun Moore sliced their deficit to single-digits, 91-82, exactly half a quarter left.

That was when Howard stepped up though, going 8-for-8 on his last four trips to the charity stripe. His final pair made it 106-90 with 2:06 to play, effectively sealing the match, though the Magic hit seven points in the dying moments of the game to bring the final tally down.

Metta World Peace added 14 markers for the Lakers, while Bryant and Steve Nash had 11 markers each, plus a total of 10 dimes.

The Magic got 21 points from Howard's former teammate Jameer Nelson, who was drafted in the same season as him. Nelson also added three rebounds and seven assists, but committed six of his side's 14 turnovers. New additions Tobias Harris and Arron Afflalo added 17 each.

The Magic outscored the Lakers 27-12 on second-chance points, but the fouling spree gave LA a 29-of-47 stint at the stripe, compared to just 13-of-17 by Orlando. - AMD, GMA News