Magic hope to stay hot in Portland

Orlando is 2-0 on its season-long six-game road trip. On Wednesday, Dwight Howard poured in a game-high 24 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lift the Magic to a 94-84 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics at KeyArena.

Howard went a perfect 8-of-8 from the floor and converted on 8-of-12 from the charity strip in the win over Seattle for Orlando. Carlos Arroyo scored 16 points and handed out four assists while Darko Milicic netted 14 and Jameer Nelson ended with nine points and six assists.

The Magic are 5-3 on the road this season. They will visit the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday, Sacramento Kings on Monday and the Indiana Pacers on December 6th.

Portland enters tonight’s contest on a three-game losing streak.On Tuesday, Danny Granger poured in 21 points off the bench and Jermaine O’Neal scored 20 as Indiana knocked off the Trail Blazers, 105-97, at the Rose Garden.

Zach Randolph scored a game-high 30 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the loss to Indiana for Portland, while Jarrett Jack had 21 points and six assists for the Trail Blazers, who have dropped eight of their last 10 games overall Travis Outlaw and Juan Dixon both scored 12 points off the bench in defeat.

The Trail Blazers, who play the third of a four-game homestand, are 4-4 at the Rose Garden this season. They are scheduled to host Joe Johnson and the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday in thw finale of the current stand.

Orlando has lost seven of its last 10 at Portland. These teams have split the last four contests in the series.

The Magic are scheduled to host Portland on February 14, 2007 in the second and final meeting of the season between the clubs.