Orlando Magic 100, Miami Heat 92

As Peninsula is Mightier predicted, the Miami Heat had no answer for Dwight Howard, who lead the Orlando Magic to a 100-92 victory over Miami in a neutral-site game Saturday night. Howard scored 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting, grabbed 16 rebounds, and blocked 3 shots. Howard's only misses from the field came from over 9-feet away; he was perfect on the inside as the undersized Udonis Haslem and the overmatched Mark Blount struggled to contain him. Rashard Lewis continued his strong play for Orlando, contributing 21 points and 8 boards. J.J. Redick impressed with 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting in 21 minutes off Orlando's bench. Jameer Nelson was quietly efficient with 11 points on 4 shot attempts, 4 assists, and only 1 turnover. You can view the game's boxscore here. And no, I don't know why ESPN lists Dwight Howard as a power forward, either.

Here's a brief look at the Four Factors:

What may have been more impressive than Redick's offense was his defense. John Denton reports that Redick held Olympian and NBA All-Star Dwyane Wade to just one made basket when matched up against him over a six-minute stretch of the game.

Courtney Lee had a rough night in his first professional start. He shot just 1-of-8 from the field. Mickael Pietrus played heavy minutes at small forward in Hedo Turkoglu's absence and struggled from the field, shooting 4-of-12. He at least made up for it by going 7-of-9 from the foul line. Unfortunately, he lived up to his reputation as a below-average ballhandler, coughing the ball up 5 times, including twice by Wade on back-to-back possessions; both turnovers lead to easy transition baskets for the Heat. But I wouldn't worry too much about Pietrus' erratic game. Ordinarily, he won't have as much responsibility on offense.

For more on the game, check out the recaps at Orlando Magic Blog, the Orlando Sentinel, and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.