I am still waiting for a team in either the Western or Eastern conference that can contain Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard; as of late, Howard has been abusing a lot of teams’ frontcourts and Orlando has been the better for it.  In Saturday night’s game against the Indiana Pacers – who do have height, by the way unlike the Miami Heat – Howard had a monster game, scoring 32 points and grabbing 21 boards, leading the Magic to a convincing 110-96 over the Pacers at Amway Arena.

Orlando shot well in taking a 58-47 lead going into halftime; the Magic settled affairs in the third quarter with a 12-5 run started by Rashard Lewis, scoring 10 of those points.  That run would put Orlando up 81-59 with 2:54 left in the period; the Pacers would rally somewhat behind Danny Granger, who would score the first 8 points of the final quarter to cut their deficit to 87-75.  But after Howard returned after a breather, he would convert a 3-point play, giving Orlando a 15-point cushion with 10 minutes remaining.  the Pacers would reduce their lead to eight 3 times, but couldn’t get any closer for the remainder of the contest.

Orlando’s high scorer was the aforementioned Howard with 32 points, 21 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 blocked shots while Lewis added 24 (including 5 treys) with 3 rebounds, an assist, a steal and a blocked shot; Hedo Turkoglu poured in 22 (including three 3-pointers) with 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals while Anthony Johnson – in for an injured Jameer Nelson – added 16 (including 3 treys) with a rebounds, 4 assists and a steal.

Indiana was led by Granger with 27 points (including three 3-pointers), 5 rebounds and an assist while Marquis Daniels added 21 with 8 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal; Troy Murphy recorded a double-double, scoring 13 with 11 rebounds and 2 assists.  Orlando (13-4) plays again on Monday when they fly north to Boston to take on the Celtics while Indiana (6-10) returns to Conseco Fieldhouse where they will host the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.