Miami Heat 90, Orlando Magic 78

Miami, winners of five games in a row coming into Sunday's game against the Magic, had not lost since a game since losing big to the Magic by 16 points on February 8th. The Heat no doubt were looking to avenge that loss with the Magic coming to Miami Sunday. Miami did just that, with a dominant 90-78 win over the Magic, as Dwyane Wade (27 points on 13 of 23 shooting) and LeBron James (25 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists) scored 52 of Miami's 90 points. The game was nowhere near as close as the final score indicated, with the Heat leading by 20 points late in the game. Miami outscored the Magic 70-32 on two-point field goals.

J.J. Redick, starting in place of Jason Richardson who was having chest pains before the game, led the Magic with 17 points, including 5 of 7 on three pointers. The five three pointers tied for the second-most three pointers Redick has made in a game. Dwight Howard struggled on offense, scoring just 12 points on 5 of 10 shooting, and 2 of 10 on free throws. He added 15 rebounds. The other three Magic starters, Jameer Nelson, Hedo Turkoglu, and Ryan Anderson, combined for just 17 points on 5 of 23 shooting.

Miami started quickly, jumping out to a 22-11 lead, which included two highlight-reel passes from James to Wade for slams. The Magic scored the last eight points of the quarter as the Heat led 22-19 after one. Redick scored 11 of the Magic's first 14 points, and shot 4 of 6 for the quarter. Wade led the Heat with 12 first-quarter points on 6 of 8 shooting.

The Magic held the Heat scoreless for nearly six minutes of play from late in the first to early in the second quarter, and led 27-24 after a Ryan Anderson three pointer with 8:56 remaining in the half. The Heat then turned up their defense, holding the Magic to a mere four points the rest of the quarter, as the Magic shot an anemic 2 of 17 in the final nine minutes of the half. Orlando scored 12 points overalll in the second, shot 5 of 23, including 2 of 11 on three pointers. Miami didn't exactly tear it up offensively, scoring 21 points in the quarter on 8 of 23 shooting for a 43-31 halftime lead.

Miami shot 42.5% for the first half, while the Magic were an ice-cold 28.6% from the floor. Wade led Miami with 19 first-half points on 9 of 13 shooting, with James adding 9 points, 6 boards, and 4 assists. Redick had 11 to lead the Magic, with Howard scoring just 6 points. The other three Magic starters combined for just 10 points on 4 of 19 shooting.

The Heat continued to maintain a double-digit lead through most of the third quarter, but the Magic closed to within nine points with 1:44 remaining in the quarter after a Glen Davis steal and layup. That was as close as the Magic would get the rest of the game, as Miami scored the last seven points of the third to lead 70-54, and led 74-54 with just over 11 minutes remaining in the game. The Magic never made a run after that, with the Heat lead varying between 14 and 20 points the rest of the way before Orlando scored the final seven points of the game to conclude the 90-78 Heat victory. James scored 16 of his 25 points in the second half.

For the game, Miami outshot the Magic from the field 47.5% to 36.5%, the free throw line 78.6% to 52%, outrebounded the Magic 48-40, and had a much better assist/turnover ratio of 20/10 to 15/15 for the Magic. Give credit to Miami's defense, as their pick-and-roll defense made all the right reads and were able to close out quickly on many of the Magic's three pointers.

Other game notes:

• -Glen Davis led the Magic reserves with 12 points on 3 of 10 shooting, along with 3 rebounds, a steal, and a block. Quentin Richardson added 10 points and 9 rebounds off the bench, and Von Wafer finally saw action with Jason Richardson being out, scoring 9 points on 4 of 9 shooting.
• -Turkoglu was particularly ineffective, with one of the worst games of his career, scoring 1 point along with 3 assists and 3 turnovers on 0 for 4 shooting in 25 minutes.
• -The Magic's point guards, Nelson and Chris Duhon, were ineffective also, combining to score 8 points on 2 of 14 shooting with 6 assists and 4 turnovers
• -Anderson had a rare game of scoring in single digits, with 9 points on 3 of 8 shooting in 31 minutes.
• -Udonis Haslem was the only other Heat player to score in double figures with 10 points off the bench along with 5 rebounds.
• Here is the game box score.