Howard Leads Magic Past Timberwolves
Saturday, November 11, 2006

Dwight Howard had 21 points and 22 rebounds—the third 20-20 game of his young career—as the Orlando Magic beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 109-98.

Beginning his third season after being drafted out of high school as the number-one overall pick in 2004, Howard spent the night guarding and being guarded by another high-school-to-pro sensation, Kevin “K. G.” Garnett. Howard’s coach, Brian Hill, compared him to his idol. “Dwight was special tonight,” said Hill. “He had K. G. type numbers.”

Howard was 6-for-6 in field goals in the first quarter although he missed both his free-throw attempts, a problem that has plagued him since coming into the league. Howard also took advantage of poor Minnesota shooting—the Timberwolves were 6-for-21 in the opening period—to pull down nine rebounds in the quarter. Three were offensive rebounds, two of which he put back with a slam dunk.

Although the Wolves were cold from the field, they made 8-of-9 free throws in the first quarter (including 7-of-7 from Garnett, who had 11 points in the first quarter). However, Orlando shot at a 73.7 percent rate to open up a 29-20 lead at the end of the period.

The Magic increased their lead to 20 in the second quarter and went into intermission with a 59-41 lead.

Minnesota came out stronger in the second half and were more effective with passing. After only five assists in the first half, the Timberwolves had 10 in the third quarter alone. Garnett was 5-for-7 from the field in helping to pull the Wolves to within 80-67 at the end of the quarter.

Garnett and Howard had both sat out most of the first five minutes in the second quarter. In the fourth quarter, Howard again got a five-minute break, but Garnett stayed on the floor. During this span, Orlando increased its lead by a point as Darko Milicic provided the defense on Garnett.

Orlando seemed to be in control at this point, but the Magic then sent the Timberwolves on a parade to the free-throw line. “Silly fouls” is how Hill characterized his team’s play down the stretch as the Timberwolves, over one span of two-and-a-half minutes, scored 10 straight of their points on free throws. Minnesota whittled the Orlando lead down to six points, but the Magic was able to hold on to win.

Guard Jameer Nelson had 23 points to lead the Magic, which had six players in double figures. Garnett was game-high with 28 points and also had 11 rebounds and five assists.

The Magic played without Grant Hill, who has been getting nights off in the second of back-to-back games as a precautionary measure. Although it was Orlando that had played the night before—losing in Indiana—it was Minnesota that looked like a road-weary team at the beginning of the game.

Timberwolves coach Dwane Casey said the team had had two “very good days of practice” only to come out with a slow start. “We have to transfer that energy [from practice] to games.” Casey was happy with how the Wolves played toward the end of the game and added, “The way we ended is how we have to begin each game.”