THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ORLANDO - The score suggests that it was just another Orlando Magic blowout victory against the woebegone Miami Heat.
A victory, yes.
A blowout - well, not exactly.
Hedo Turkoglu had 27 points and 12 rebounds, Rashard Lewis scored 19 and the Magic needed 12 consecutive points in the final quarter to pull away and defeat the undermanned Heat 107-91 Wednesday night.
Dwight Howard scored 16 points with 13 rebounds and Maurice Evans added 13 for the Southeast Division-leading Magic (29-18), who have won the last eight meetings between the Sunshine State rivals.
Ricky Davis scored 21 points, while Luke Jackson and Chris Quinn added 14 apiece for the Heat, who played without Dwyane Wade (flu), Shaquille O'Neal (hip) and Udonis Haslem (ankle). Not surprisingly, given the lineup depletion, Miami trailed most of the way in what became its 17th loss in the past 18 games.
But that didn't mean the Heat couldn't make things interesting.
"We all knew that it was going to be tough because those guys … they've got nothing to lose," Turkoglu said.
Daequan Cook's jumper with 11 minutes remaining brought Miami within 83-80, and the Heat were clearly thinking upset.
From there, though, it was all Orlando.
An 18-1 run gave a close game the appearance of a runaway.
"We thought we had a battle there," Quinn said. "And then they stepped up."
In the teams' last four meetings at Orlando, the Magic have prevailed by an average of 23 points.
It was the first time since O'Neal was traded to Miami that he, Wade and Haslem all missed a game. And the diminished bench seemed to take a toll on the Heat down the stretch. Miami shot 28 percent (5-for-18) in the final quarter, getting outscored 24-15.
Dorell Wright scored 12 points, Jason Williams had 11 and eight assists and Mark Blount finished with 10 points for Miami, which was outrebounded 52-29.
"We look at it as (an) opportunity and surprise everybody and try to get a win," Wright said. "I thought we fought real hard. We were almost there. That fourth quarter slipped away from us."
