ORLANDO, Fla. — Dwight Howard sat on a chair in front of his locker and plopped his son, Braylon, onto his lap. The 2-year-old was wearing a blue shirt with the Superman emblem stamped on the chest.
Statement? Hardly. The big man did that on the court.
Howard had 22 points and 16 rebounds in a bruising battle with Shaquille O’Neal, and the Orlando Magic beat Cleveland 101-95 on Sunday for the Cavaliers’ first three-game losing streak in two years.
“He’s a big load,” Howard said of O’Neal, who had taken offense recently to Howard being called Superman. “You just got to get in there and fight him. You got to get out there and wrestle with him. You got to make him work.”
They both did plenty of that.
Howard was 8-for-13 shooting and added four blocks, and Vince Carter had eight of his 11 points in the fourth quarter to help the Magic beat Cleveland for the first time this season.
O’Neal made his first eight shots and finished with 20 points, and LeBron James had 33 points and nine rebounds for the Cavaliers, who were eliminated by Orlando in last year’s Eastern Conference finals.
“Dwight is one of the only true big men left. I’m sure he doesn’t mind a little bit of physicality,” said O’Neal, who avoided any verbal jabs at Howard after this one. “I darn sure don’t mind it. Two big, strong guys. Old ball, young ball going at it. Fun game to watch.”
Stayed tuned. Might be plenty more matchups this season.
The Cavaliers’ losing skid comes on the heels of a 13-game winning streak, so they still lead Orlando by five games. And with the Magic starting to play its best basketball, a conference finals rematch might be in store.
“We play the way we’re playing, they play the way they’re playing, we’ll eventually meet,” Howard said.
