Turkoglu, Howard Combine for 43; Magic Tame Bobcats 104-95

Orlando Magic forward Hedo Turkoglu, left, goes up for a shot in front of Charlotte Bobcats guard Derek Anderson during the first half of their game, played Saturday night. Turkoglu scored 28 points, leading Orlando to the win over Charlotte 104-95.

A lesson that should’ve been learned a long time ago when dealing with Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard - if you play zone defense against him, then you know that someone else on the Magic will pick up the slack. Tonight’s game against the Charlotte Bobcats validates that lesson. While Howard was stymied on offense, his rebounding and overall defense - combined with some hot shooting by Hedo Turkoglu - enabled the Magic to pull out an impressive win over the Bobcats 104-95 at Orlando.

Orlando led by eight after one quarter, but they had difficulty in containing Charlotte’s Jason Richardson or Gerald Wallace, so they were at a plateau in that respect. Despite balanced scoring by Orlando (Turkoglu - 15 first half points; Howard with 11 and Carlos Arroyo with 10), all they got for that was a 52-51 lead. The Magic would push the lead up to 71-60 after a 3-point play by Arroyo with 4:26 left in the third period, but the Bobcats shot their way back into contention.

A trey by Wallace cut the Bobcats’ deficit to 77-72 at the end of 3, and they would score the first 2 baskets of the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 77-76. Orlando had struggled to pull away for most of the game until the middle of the fourth period. Orlando’s Turkoglu would score 10 points in the final 5:33 of the game - including 8 straight - enabling Orlando to ice the game and push its lead to 103-93 with 2:04 remaining in the game.

Orlando had 5 players in double digits, led by Turkoglu with 28 points - including 4 treys, 7 rebounds and 3 steals; Rashard Lewis pitched in with 18 points, while Arroyo added 16 with 4 rebounds and 6 assists in place of Jameer Nelson who is out with a strained back. Howard was held somewhat in check with 15 points, but also grabbed 21 boards and blocked 4 shots.

Charlotte was led by Richardson with a strong 34 points - including 4 treys - and 8 rebounds; Wallace added 23 with 7 boards and 7 assists in a losing effort. Orlando (21-11) next travels to Chicago to take on the Bulls Monday afternoon, while Charlotte returns home to host the Indiana Pacers - also on Saturday.