Basketball Howard scores 26, grabs 12 boards as Magic cruise by Nets

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Dwight Howard had 26 points and 12 rebounds and Matt Barnes added 13 points and 13 rebounds and the Orlando Magic put away the winless New Jersey Nets 88-72 on Friday night.

New Jersey got a triple-double from point guard Rafer Alston, the first triple-double of his career, but the Nets fell to 0-9. They are the NBA's only winless team.

Alston had 17 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds against his former team, but the Nets shot poorly and scored only 30 points in the second half.

Orlando's Mickael Pietrus scored 16 points, Vince Carter had 14 and Jameer Nelson added 10 as all five Magic starters scored in double figures.

Jason Williams and Carter hit back-to-back 3-pointers to finish off a 10-0 run that put the Magic up 78-62 with 8:09 left in the game.

Both teams struggled offensively to that point.

New Jersey rode a modest hot streak of shooting early in the game to build a 36-26 lead in the middle of the second quarter. The Nets hit their first three 3-point attempts, two by Bobby Simmons.

However, they went cold after that and quickly surrendered the advantage.

The Magic, who had only one field goal the first 6:30 of the second period, got seven straight points from Howard and finished the second quarter with a 16-6 run to tie game at 42-42.

Howard had 20 points and six rebounds by halftime and neither Nets' center Brook Lopez nor backup Sean Williams could do much to stop him.
 
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