November 7th, 2007 
CJ 
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This game wasn’t so much a matchup between two teams in rebuild mode as it was a matchup between 2 of the rising young power forwards in the NBA – Minnesota’s Al Jefferson and Orlando’s Dwight Howard.? It was Howard who got the advantage in the matchup as he led the Orlando Magic to a 111-103 win over the winless Minnesota Timberwolves.
But Jefferson had his moments.? With Minnesota trailing 92-76 with 10:32 left, Jefferson took over; he scored 8 points in a 14-0 run that cut Orlando’s lead to 92-90.? But Magic forward Rashard Lewis?came right back by hitting three straight 3-pointers to push the lead to 101-95 and Minnesota could not recover.? The Timberwolves’ loss proved costly as guard Rashad McCants suffered a sprained ankle in the first quarter.
Howard led all Orlando players with 28 points while Lewis added 27.? Guard Carlos Arroyo, starting for the injured Jameer Nelson, chipped in 18.? Minnesota had 5 players in souble-digits, led by the aforementioned Jefferson with 25 points and 10 rebounds, with?G Greg Buckner adding 18 and F Craig Smith contibuting 13 from off the bench.? Orlando (3-1) fly to Tornto to challenge the Raptors on Wednesday while Minnesota (0-3) do not play again until Friday when they travel to Los Angeles to face the Lakers.
