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Mavericks-Magic: 300k 
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"We got up and played defense (in the second quarter)," Francis said. "Playing against a shooting team like Dallas, who pretty much plays small ball, we were able to neutralize them, trying to play to their weakness by getting up and down the court."
Orlando (3-1) bounced back after losing to expansion Charlotte, 111-100, on Saturday to hold off Dallas, one of the elite teams, who was playing for the second straight night.
After shooting 25 percent (5-of-20) from the field in the opening period, the Magic turned things around as Francis scored 12 points in a 27-10 spurt that gave Orlando a 50-40 halftime edge.
"I think we all came out knowing what was at stake tonight," Francis said. "We lost to Charlotte and that left a bad taste in our mouth. So we wanted to come out and defend our court because that's where you get a lot of support."
The Magic opened the third quarter with a 13-2 burst that pushed the advantage to 63-42 with 8:50 remaining in the third period. Howard had five points in that stretch, that concluded a 40-12 Orlando run.
Dirk Nowitzki poured in 13 of his 20 points in a 20-6 run to bring Dallas within 69-62 entering the final period. But the Mavericks went cold in the fourth quarter, shooting 7-of-27 from the field.
"Dirk has been bothered a little bit his ankle," Dallas swingman Jerry Stackhouse said. "I thought he did a great job of getting himself loose and competing in the second half. Again, it comes down to not being able to spot a team 20 points in the second half.
"The bottom line is we've struggled offensively now for two games in a row," Dallas coach Don Nelson said. "It's hard to beat a team on the road when you do that. We had to go our zone since we weren't getting much done. I thought that helped us get back in the game."
Dwight Howard, the league's top draft pick, became the first rookie since Shaquille O'Neal in 1992 to get 10 rebounds in his first four games, pulling down 11 with 15 points for his third double-double.
Hedo Turkoglu scored 19 points off the bench and Grant Hill added 17 and nine rebounds for Orlando, which went 4-20 against Western Conference teams last season.
Marquis Daniels, who played high school basketball in Orlando, scored 16 points off the bench for Dallas (4-1), which shot 29 percent (28-of-96) and failed to reach 100 points for the first time this season.