Dwight Howard Leads the Orlando Magic to Victory Over New York Knicks

The New York Knicks have found a reliable scorer to compliment Amare Stoudemire. Carmelo Anthony has continued to play at a high level for New York and compliment Stoudemire's game nicely. What could derail the Knicks chances late in the season are a lack of depth on the bench.

Against the Orlando Magic last night, the Knicks got 30 points from both Stoudemire and Chauncey Billups and Anthony added another 25 points. They only got 11 points out of players coming off the bench. The Magic used their depth to score 44 points of the bench and put a damper on outstanding nights by the Knicks stars.

It helped that Dwight Howard had a big night. From early in the game, he dominated the post. He finished the game with 30 points, 16 rebounds and 5 blocked shots. He also managed to get to the free throw line 17 times where he shot 70%. By creating such havoc under the basket, Howard opened up holes in the defense that his team exploited. JJ Redick did a particularly good job of driving to the basket and making defenders choose between giving him a layup or allowing him to pass to Howard. The defense also couldn't run out on shooters, allowing Ryan Anderson to go 4-5 from 3 point range and Jameer Nelson to score 23 second half points.

The game started with each team streaking to various leads, the Magic looked strong in the first quarter scoring 31 points and the Knicks bounced back to take the lead in the second. Chauncey Billups made the score 110-106 in favor of Orlando with around 4 minutes to play, but the Knicks couldn't close the gap and lost the game 116-110.

The Knicks will be keeping a close eye on Billups, who left the game just before the two minute mark after a collision with Dwight Howard. Reports say that he suffered a left thigh bruise. Billups has been a key element in running New York's offense and brings a veteran attitude to the team.