April 9th, 2008 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in ??????????????????????????
Wednesday’s game between the Chicago Bulls and Orlando Magic was a matchup where neither team had much to play for; Chicago had already been eliminated from playoff contention, and Orlando had already locked up the #3 seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race.?But nonetheless, the Magic played as if they were fighting for the #8 seed; Dwight Howard scored 30 points, leading Orlando the the very easy win over Chicago, 115-83, at Amway Arena.
The Magic stumbled early, committing six turnovers in the game’s first 6 minutes; as a result, Chicago held an early 8-point lead in the first quarter.? But Orlando recovered nicely, taking control with a 13-0 run in the second quarter; Howard scored 11 during that stretch, giving the Magic a 51-36 lead.? Chicago got to within 78-70 on a 17-7 run in the third quarter, as the Bulls scored only 2 points in the fourth quarter’s first 2 1/2 minutes.? Howard iced the win for Orlando with a thunderous dunk with 8 minuted remaining in the game, giving the Magic an insurmountable 95-75 lead.
Orlando was led by the aforementioned Howard with 30 points, 14 rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block while Rashard Lewis scored 21, including 4 three-pointers, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, a block but 5turnovers.? Chicago was led by Kirk Hinrich with 19 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal.? Orlando (49-29) remains at home to host the Minnesota Timberwolves Friday while Chicago (30-48) returns home to host the Cleveland Cavaliers – also on Friday.
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