Magic end Heat's win streaks 97-83

(AP)
Updated: 2007-03-19 09:25

Hedo Turkoglu scored 11 of his 20 points in the first quarter, Dwight Howard added 17 points and 11 rebounds, and the Orlando Magic ended the Miami Heat's nine-game winning streak with a 97-83 victory Sunday night.

Orlando, which won for only the sixth time in its last 18 games, also ended Miami's run of 14 straight wins at home by shooting 50 percent and outrebounding the Heat 44-34. Darko Milicic had 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic.

Shaquille O'Neal scored 20 points, James Posey had 14 and Jason Williams added 10 points and six assists for Miami, which is 0-3 against the Magic this season and fell one game behind Washington in the Southeast Division.

It was only Miami's second loss in 42 home games during February and March since O'Neal was acquired three years ago.

Miami shot a season-best 62 percent from 3-point range Friday against Sacramento, but missed 18 of 22 tries from that distance Sunday. The Heat led for just 2 1/2 minutes, never getting closer than 12 after halftime.

It was a critical win for Orlando (31-37), one of four teams -- Indiana, New Jersey and New York are the others -- battling for the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. Orlando started the day 10th in the East, but moved within a half-game of the seventh-place Pacers by beating the defending NBA champions.

Miami fell to 10-3 since NBA finals MVP Dwyane Wade dislocated his left shoulder last month. The Heat were also without forward Jason Kapono (ankle) and guard Gary Payton (strained right groin).

Jameer Nelson scored 11 points and J.J. Redick added 10 for the Magic.

Turkoglu had just two points in a loss to Sacramento on Saturday, and didn't appear in the second half against the Kings because of illness. But he was apparently feeling fine on Sunday, hitting 5 of 8 shots in the opening quarter as Orlando built a 28-16 lead.

Miami closed the gap to 44-34 when Antoine Walker hit a 3-pointer -- the first for the Heat in six tries -- with 3:59 left before halftime. But Walker airballed his next attempt from long range about a minute later, and Turkoglu hit a 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds left in the half to give the Magic then their biggest lead, 55-37.

And the Heat never made much of a run from there. Posey and Williams hit 3-pointers in the first 90 seconds of the third quarter to trim the Miami deficit to 55-43, but Orlando's cushion got no smaller.



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