Lewis leads Magic; Heat fall to Hawks
Rashard Lewis fell one assist shy of his first triple-double, finishing with 17 points and 10 rebounds in the Orlando Magic’s 108-94 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder Wednesday night.
Lewis, who was suspended for the first 10 games of the season for violating the league’s substance abuse policy, didn’t play in the fourth quarter, which the Magic started with an 88-58 lead
His performance helped Orlando overcome the loss of starting point guard Jameer Nelson, who underwent arthroscopic surgery Wednesday to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. Nelson is expected to miss four to six weeks.
Vince Carter added 18 points and Dwight Howard had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic, who put six players in double figures and won their third straight game.
Rookie James Harden scored a career-high 24 points off the bench. He didn’t get much help from the Oklahoma City starters, who were a combined 14-of-45 (31 percent) from the field. Kevin Durant had 12 points, and Jeff Green and Kyle Weaver 11 apiece for the Thunder.
The Magic didn’t seem to miss Nelson, hitting five of their first six shots and scoring 28 points in the first quarter with Jason Williams making his first start of the season at point guard.
Oklahoma City, which shot 57 percent in a 102-74 rout of Orlando two weeks ago, couldn’t find a rhythm in the rematch.
Hawks 105, Heat 90: Joe Johnson made it two straight 30-point games, Josh Smith dominated during a decisive first-half run and Atlanta won its sixth in the row, beating Miami to reclaim a share of the NBA’s best record.
Johnson scored 30 points on the heels of a 35-point effort against Portland Monday. Smith was all over the stat sheet: 16 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and two steals.
The Hawks (10-2) remained perfect at home and finally seemed to awaken the city of Atlanta to just how good this team might be. The first sellout of the season, 18,729, turned out at Philips Arena.
Michael Beasley led the Heat with 21 points. Dwyane Wade was held to 15 on 6-of-18 shooting, ending a streak of 23 straight regular-season games with at least 20 points.