ORLANDO, Fla. — Dwight Howard had 23 points and 10 rebounds to lift the Orlando Magic to a 112-83 victory over the Washington Wizards on Thursday night at the Amway Center, giving the NBA’s newest arena a grand opening and spoiling No. 1 overall pick John Wall’s debut.
Vince Carter had 18 points and Jameer Nelson scored 16 to help the Magic cruise to another blowout victory after a perfect preseason.
Wall had 14 points and nine assists - much of it in mop-up duty - on 6 of 19 shooting in his first game. He showed flashes of stardom but became just another spectator on an emotional night in Orlando.
Not that the Magic have much time to savor the Amway Center’s opening. They get their first shot at LeBron James and the new-look Miami Heat down south tonight.
But Orlando’s warm-up act couldn’t have gone smoother.
A standing-room only crowd of 18,918 even brought out Tiger Woods from his Orlando-area home - once a regular at Magic games - for the first time since his sex scandal last year. Magic All-Star center Dwight Howard took the microphone to thank fans before the game, and NBA Commissioner David Stern endured a long shower of boos before he proclaimed that there’s no arena “better than this facility in the world.”
The Magic showed the same dominance that led them to an undefeated preseason, sprinting ahead by 10-plus points from the start behind a flurry of three-pointers and hard-driving layups. Orlando went ahead by 14 after the first quarter, 58-34 at half and more than 35 points in the fourth.
Sports, Pages 27 on 10/29/2010