Magic centre Dwight Howard scores two of his 24 points in Game 3 against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night in Orlando. (Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)Dwight Howard scored 24 points and Rafer Alston added 18 as the Orlando Magic downed the Cleveland Cavaliers 99-89 on Sunday night to take a 2-1 lead in an Eastern Conference final that's getting nastier by the minute.
Howard led five Orlando players into double digits, including Rafer Alston (18), Mickael Pietrus (16), Rashard Lewis (15) and Hedo Turkoglu (13).
The Magic led at every interval but halftime, with the Cavaliers going up 41-40 at the break after a strong second quarter.
Cleveland superstar LeBron James scored 41 on just 11-of-26 shooting and missed five free throws in the fourth quarter. But once again, James didn't get enough help from his teammates.
Mo Williams, who needed four stitches to close two gashes around his left eye after being elbowed in the first half, Delonte West and Zydrunas Ilgauskas shot a combined 13-of-37.
All-star guard Williams finished with 15 points on 5-for-16 shooting and briefly left the game after taking an elbow from Orlando's Anthony Johnson near the eye midway through the second quarter. He required four stitches to seal cuts above and under the eye.
Johnson drove the lane and extended his elbow, knocking Williams to the floor. Williams was called for a blocking foul, and Johnson was whistled for a flagrant one foul in a game that as chippy.
Howard, Ilgauskas and Cleveland's Anderson Varejao all fouled out as the officials called 58 personals, handed out two technicals, a flagrant and spent half the night stepping between players on both sides as tempers flared inside an overheated Amway Arena.
"We just kept fighting. That's what we got to do, we fight to the end," Howard said. "We can't worry about nothing, we can't worry about the calls, can't worry about nobody else. We just got to get out there and play."
Unlike Games 1 and 2, the Magic didn't fall behind by double digits and need to rally. They got out fast, stayed close despite Howard's early foul trouble and put the Cavs away at the line.
Howard, a notoriously poor foul shooter, went 14-of-19 from the line and the Magic made 39 of 51 attempts. In the fourth quarter alone, Orlando made 19 of 23 to hold off the top-seeded Cavaliers, who began the playoffs with eight straight wins and have now dropped two of their last three.
Game 4 takes place Tuesday night in Orlando.
