March 7th, 2010 
Stephen Rhodes 
Posted in 
One would think that with the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic lacing them up for a basketball game at Amway Arena, scoring would have been plentiful.
While that wasn’t really the case, the Magic had a player they could rely on not named Dwight Howard. The player in question? Vince Carter. Carter made his first 13 free throws and kept Orlando in control as they managed to squeeze out a 96-94 win over Los Angeles.
Bothy teams combined to shoot 29 free throws – with the Magic converting 17-of-18 – in the first quarter alone; Howard and Andrew Bynum were in foul trouble for most of the first three quarters, but a strong effort by Carter helped Orlando take a 12- point lead late in the third quarter. The Lakers would come back in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 straight points – including the first eight of the period – to cut the Magic’s lead to 74-72.
Howard would respond with a thunderous dunk over Pau Gasol, who was called for a flagrant-one foul on the play midway through the fourth. But Howard would miss both free throws, but still put Orlando ahead 81-74 in what would be a back-and-forth finish.
All five starters for the Magic scored in double-digits, led by Carter with 25 points, 3 rebounds, an assist and a steal while Howard and Jameer Nelson each scored 15 – with Howard grabbing 16 rebounds, dishing out 2 assists, along with 2 blocks while Nelson grabbed 9 boards and dished out 7 assists.
Bryant led the Lakers with 34 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals while Gasol added 20 with 11 rebounds, an assist and 2 blocks.
Orlando (44-20) plays again on Tuesday when they host the Los Angeles Clippers while Los Angeles (46-18) returns home to host the Toronto Raptors – also on Tuesday night.
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