Nelson leads Magic to victory

Dwight Howard added 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Magic, who won three straight games at home for the second time this season. Grant Hill also had 17 points for the Magic.

Kevin Garnett led the Timberwolves with 29 points and 11 rebounds as Minnesota lost for the seventh time in its last nine games. Wally Szczerbiak netted 24 points with six assists in the loss.

The Magic shot 50 percent from the floor and 84.6 percent from the free-throw line in the victory. In comparison, Minnesota shot 45.7 percent from the floor, but hit only 69.2 percent of its free throws.

Orlando held a 32-22 edge after the first and looked like it would run away with it in the second. The Magic opened up the second frame with an 11-3 run to go ahead 43-25 with 7:39 left. Back-to-back three-pointers by Nelson later staked Orlando to a 49-28 edge before the Timberwolves battled back.

With the Magic ahead 57-37, Minnesota closed out the half on a 14-2 run, capped by consecutive three-pointers by Richie Frahm and Trenton Hassell, to pull to within 59-51 heading into the third.

An 8-0 run by the Timberwolves, capped by an Eddie Griffin three-pointer with 7:22 remaining in the third, pulled Minnesota to within one at 64-63 and Marko Jaric’s jumper later put Minnesota ahead 67-66. However, the Magic responded with an 11-0 run in which Orlando shot 7-of-8 from the free throw line, to go ahead 77-67 with 2:18 remaining.

Orlando led 79-72 after the third period.

The Magic put the game away in the fourth, opening the stanza on a 7-0 run with the first three points coming from Nelson. A 9-2 run by Orlando later upped its lead to 95-77 with 6:07 left and the Timberwolves never recovered, getting outscored in the frame 28-15.

Game Notes

Hassell ended with nine points, while Jaric chipped in seven...Hedo Turkoglu added 11 points for the Magic...Orlando held the rebound edge, 42-25...Orlando improved to 8-9 at home, while Minnesota dropped to 5-7 on the road...The Magic have won 12 of the last 15 games in Orlando against Minnesota.