GameNight SpecificsNBA Coverage: Game InfoDate: Friday, Jan. 21Time: 7 p.m.Location: Amway Center (Orlando, FL)Radio: AM 580 WDBO, AM 1270 WRLZTelevision: FS Florida
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GAME RECAP
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) Dwight Howard kept getting easy baskets, so the Orlando Magic kept feeding him the ball.
It was just that simple against the lowly Toronto Raptors.
Howard had 31 points and 19 rebounds, helping the Magic rout the reeling Raptors 112-72 on Friday night.
"I try to do the best I can to get my teammates involved, so they try to get my involved," Howard said. "If I have it going on the inside, they continue to pound the ball inside."
Howard went 12 for 21 from the field and had nine offensive rebounds, almost as many as Toronto had as a team (14). He outrebounded the Raptors' starting five (19-18) and dunked almost at will, scoring off what seemed like an endless stream of lobs from the Magic guards.
"There wasn't a whole lot of balance tonight, the ball just kept going to Dwight," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "But, I mean, if they're going to give you layups at the basket, you're not really going to look for anything else."
Ryan Anderson added 21 points for Orlando, which avenged a four-point home loss to the Raptors in November. J.J. Redick scored 12 points and Brandon Bass finished with 10.
DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 16 points. Andrea Bargnani scored all 11 of his points in the first half as Toronto picked up its sixth consecutive loss.
Howard earned his 31st double-double of the season and has scored at least 30 points in three of Orlando's last five games.
"Sometimes it looks like he's playing against high school kids out there," Anderson said. "Actually, all the time it looks like he's playing against high school kids."
Gilbert Arenas said it another way: "Some of those young fellas over there looked like they were scared of him."
The Raptors were within four in the third quarter, but the Magic dominated the rest of the game. They led 73-57 after three and outscored the Raptors 39-15 in the fourth.
Toronto beat the Magic 110-106 in Orlando in November, with Bargnani using an assortment of inside and outside shots to confound the Magic front court. Bargnani had 27 points in that one, but wasn't nearly as effective in the rematch.
The Raptors opted not to double team Howard for most of the game and paid the price for it. He had 17 points in the third quarter, allowing him to rest during the final period. His one blemish was a 7-for-13 night at the free-throw line.
"He's good, we're not," Raptors coach Jay Triano said. "We're not a good rebounding team. It's a conscious effort to get it and we don't have a lot of guys that have a nose to go get the ball."
Bargnani also was blunt about his team's recent woes.
"We're playing bad," he said. "After every game it seems like we played worse. We have to find a way to stop this and play better."
NOTES: The Magic tied a season low, allowing only 72 points. They held Memphis to the same total back on Nov. 15. ... Toronto's Joey Dorsey left in the third quarter with a sore right knee. ... Orlando PG Jason Williams played after missing the previous five games for personal reasons.
DENTON'S ANALYSIS VS. RAPTORS
ORLANDO – At times in Friday’s one-sided, almost unfair third quarter, Orlando Magic star center Dwight Howard looked like the playground bully holding a little kid away by the head as he flailed away and hit absolutely nothing.
Time and time again, the bigger, stronger Howard would go up into the air and do as he pleased against the smaller, weaker Toronto Raptors. Anytime the Orlando Magic needed to pull away from Toronto, their big man would simply flex his considerable muscles and dominate the basketball game.
Howard finished with 31 points and 19 rebounds – of which 17 points and seven rebounds came in the third quarter – as the Magic rode the massive shoulders of their big man and breezed to a 112-72 rout of the Raptors.
``Coach (Stan Van Gundy) told us to go out and follow the word that I always say, which is `Dominate,’’’ said Howard, who made 12 of 21 shots, hit seven free throws and grabbed nine offensive boards.
How utterly dominant was Howard? Howard had as many points (31) and rebounds (19) as Toronto’s starting five had points (31) or rebounds (17). And that was without even playing in the fourth quarter as the Magic romped.
``Some of the young fellas over there for Toronto looked like they were scared of him,’’ Magic point guard Gilbert Arenas said with a chuckle.
``Some of the time – well, pretty much all of the time – it looks like he’s out there playing against high school kids,’’ Magic forward Ryan Anderson remarked. ``He’s just so much bigger, so much more athletic and so much more talented than a lot of the guys in this league. That was impressive, very impressive.’’
Anderson tied a career-high with 21 points, but 17 of those came in the fourth period after Howard had already broken the will of the Raptors (13-30). J.J. Redick chipped in 12 points, while power forward Brandon Bass scored 10 points and frustrated Toronto star center Andrea Bargnani, who missed 11 of his 14 shots and scored only 11 points.
The Magic won at home for the eighth straight time. The Magic are 17-5 at the new Amway Center this season. The Magic are winning by an average of 16.5 points a game at home. And the 40-point win wasn’t even the biggest home victory of the season. They beat Minnesota by 42 points at Amway Center back in November. The largest home win ever was by 46 points in 1995 against Philadelphia.
``It feels good to have one like this after having a lot of close games in a row,’’ said Van Gundy, whose Magic needed a last-minute four-point play and overtime to beat Philadelphia on Wednesday. ``Now, we have to go back on the road and do better than we did the last couple of games on the road.’’
The Magic headed deep into the heart of Texas after the game for a Saturday night showdown against the Houston Rockets. The Magic beat the Rockets 110-95 back on Jan. 7 in Orlando.
Here’s a look back at what went right, what went wrong and some final observations from the Magic’s eighth straight home victory at Amway Center:
READ ENTIRE ANALYSIS
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