THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ORLANDO - Hedo Turkoglu scored 22 points and the Orlando Magic held off a late scoring burst by Caron Butler in an 89-80 victory over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday.
Butler had 29 points, all in the second half, but the recently energized Wizards (7-26) failed in their bid to win for the fourth time in six games.
Orlando center Dwight Howard had his league-leading 25th double-double, with 15 points and 16 rebounds. Jameer Nelson added 14 points for the Magic, who rebounded from their loss at Toronto on Sunday.
Antawn Jamison scored 13 for the Wizards, who fell to 0-3 against Orlando this season.
Orlando opened the fourth quarter hitting only three of its first 15 shots as the Wizards drew within 83-80 in the final two minutes. Nelson hit a basket and Howard made a pair of free throws with 34 seconds left to seal the game.
Butler had 21 points in the third quarter, three short of tying Los Angeles guard Kobe Bryant's Magic opponent record set in 2004.
Butler was 0-for-5 in the first half, but made 12 of 19 in the second half.
The Magic led by as many as 17 points before Butler single-handedly brought the Wizards back in the third quarter.
Turkoglu got hit over the right eye by Butler in the fourth quarter and it began to swell, causing him obvious discomfort.
Magic rookie Courtney Lee got his first career start at shooting guard and had eight points.
Orlando, which has won 10 straight home games, heads to Atlanta for a key Southeast Division matchup on Wednesday. Orlando leads the Southeast by four games.
Atlanta has won six of its last seven home games against Orlando.
Howard made five of six free throws, but had only one blocked shot. Howard, the league leader, has blocked at least one shot in every game but one this season.<</p>
Notes:@ Magic guard Mickeal Pietrus was inactive, out with a broken wrist.
