Magic throttle Cavaliers, James 116-87

[April 04, 2009]  ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Dwight Howard had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and the Orlando Magic rode a strong second-half start to go ahead by 41 points and hand the Cleveland Cavaliers their most lopsided loss of the season with a 116-87 blowout Friday night.

Rashard Lewis had 22 points, and Hedo Turkoglu scored 13 for the Magic, who remained percentage points behind Boston - but tied in the loss column - for the Eastern Conference's second seed.

LeBron James finished with 26 points and nine rebounds but never did find his rhythm, shooting 7-for-20 from the floor. James stayed in for part of the fourth quarter to help Cleveland dodge its worst loss since he was drafted in 2003.

Cleveland's 35-point defeat at Detroit on Nov. 11, 2007, was the most lopsided in the LeBron Era, and a 17-point loss against the Lakers in January had been the Cavs' worst this season.

But this one left Cleveland embarrassed.

Lewis made consecutive 3-pointers to cap a 19-2 start to the second half, a flurry of swishes and Howard dunks that simply overwhelmed Cleveland.

Howard had a crushing block on a layup attempt by James that brought the home fans to their feet in one seemingly collective "ooh." Howard smiled down court, and an obviously throttled James tried to return the favor but was called for goaltending on Howard's hook shot.

It got worse for Cleveland - much worse.

A series of alley-oops, dunks and wide-open 3-pointers all seemed to connect for Orlando. And when Courtney Lee finally missed a jumper for the Magic during the spurt, Howard cleaned it up with a monstrous put-back dunk that began the chants of "M-V-P!" every time he shot free throws.

Things got so bad that even central Florida resident and the Magic's most famous fan, Tiger Woods, left his courtside seat at the end of the third quarter and never returned. The Cavaliers had no answer, and Magic coach Stan Van Gundy began to sit his starters before the fourth quarter.

Everything seemed to go Orlando's way.

Anthony Johnson banked a 3-pointer high off the glass from near the baseline to cap a 15-4 spurt that gave Orlando a 46-30 lead with about three minutes to play in the first half. The Magic went ahead by 17 points at the break, and they did it in the oddest of ways.

With Howard on the bench, reserve centers Tony Battie and Marcin Gortat combined for 10 points during Orlando's second-quarter run. The duo not only allowed Howard to take a few extra minutes rest, they grabbed key rebounds, were active on defense to help hold the Cavaliers to 31.8 percent shooting in the half and even contested some of James' hard-driving layups that kept him frustrated.

That would be a theme throughout.

Showing emotion rarely seen in the regular season, James was called for a technical foul in the first quarter after he was whistled for reaching in on a layup attempt by Turkoglu. James would have more reason to get riled up.

Rafer Alston reached back to his streetballing days when he was known as "Skip to My Lou" on New York's hard courts with a nifty behind the back dribble, then spinning past James and finishing with a layup. The play was part of a 12-4 run that put the Magic ahead 25-18 late in the first quarter.

Notes:@ Two of the biggest athletes in sports shook hands before the game, with Woods and James embracing courtside. Woods, a central Florida resident who often attends Magic home games, was sitting across from Cleveland's bench with world-renowned golf instructor Hank Haney. "Any time Tiger's in attendance it must be a big game," James said before the game, adding that he hasn't seen Woods play in person but would love to in the future. ... James was named Eastern Conference Player of the Month for March on Friday for the 10th time in his career and the third time this season. He was joined by his Cleveland's Mike Brown, who earned the East's Coach of the Month honors to also claim that honor for the third time this season.

[Associated Press; By ANTONIO GONZALEZ]

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