ORLANDO, May 7, (RTRS): The Orlando Magic followed up their series opening annihilation of the Atlanta Hawks with a 112-98 victory on Thursday to open a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semi-finals.
Dwight Howard powered to a game-high 29 points and 17 rebounds, Vince Carter scored 24 and the Magic head to Atlanta for Game Three on Saturday with a healthy lead and the momentum of six consecutive victories in the playoffs.
“We have so many guys on this team who can score that things tend to open up in the second half,” Carter told reporters after adding 20 of his points in the second half. “In the first half, they did a good job on me coming off screens and put me in a zone a little bit. I just wanted to give the ball up and move the ball.”
Orlando appeared to be still coming to terms with their 43-point trouncing of Atlanta on Tuesday and started a little flat in Game Two, trailing the Hawks by eight points at halftime.
However, the second-seeded Magic regrouped and grabbed the lead midway through the third and used a clinical final quarter to outscore the visitors 28-15.
The Hawks went scoreless for more than three minutes early in the fourth, during which time Carter and Mickael Pietrus made three-pointers to put Orlando 98-87 ahead.
By the time Jameer Nelson made his own triple with 4:28 remaining, the Magic had completed a 19-2 run to swell the lead to 18.
Orlando remains undefeated this postseason and center Howard is playing his best basketball at just the right time.
The All-NBA first-team center has overcome his foul trouble from round one and is enjoying greater accuracy from the free throw line, where he converted 13-of-18 on Thursday.
“I just believe that I can make it every time I step up there, and if I don’t, I believe I’m going to make the next one,” Howard said. “
Al Horford led Atlanta with 24 points and 10 rebounds while reserve Jamal Crawford recorded 23 for the Hawks.
Atlanta has struggled against the Magic all season and has just one win in six total meetings.
Meanwhile, most Valuable Player LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers and defensive wizard Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic were unanimous selections to this season’s All-NBA team, the league said Thursday. Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat joined James and Howard on the first team.
James, the league’s back-to-back MVP, earned first team honors for the third consecutive season and fourth overall. The Cavaliers forward was second in the NBA in scoring (29.7 points per game) while leading Cleveland to a league-best 61-21 regular-season record.
Howard, the NBA defensive player of the year, also won All-NBA first team honors for the third straight year. The Magic center became the first player to lead the league in rebounding and blocks in consecutive seasons.
Bryant, who missed being a unanimous selection by three votes, was chosen for the fifth consecutive season and eighth time in his career with fellow guard Wade gaining the honor for two years running.
Durant, a third-year forward who led the NBA in scoring with a 30.1 average, is the lone newcomer to the first team.
The second team consisted of Phoenix’s Steve Nash, Utah’s Deron Williams, Denver’s Carmelo Anthony, Dallas’s Dirk Nowitzki, and Phoenix’s Amare Stoudemire.
Third team members were Atlanta’s Joe Johnson, Portland’s Brandon Roy, San Antonio’s Tim Duncan, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Paul Gasol, and Milwaukee’s Andrew Bogut.
The teams were selected by a panel of journalists.