NBA - Howard enters record books in Magic win

Eurosport - Tue, 31 Mar 07:11:00 2009

Dwight Howard passed Wilt Chamberlain as the youngest NBA player to reach 5,000 rebounds as the Orlando Magic withstood Dwyane Wade's 42 points for a 101-95 road victory over Miami Heat.

BASKETBALL 2008-2009 NBA Orlando Dwight Howard - 0

The 23-year-old Howard collected 22 points and 18 rebounds to boost his career total to 5,007. Chamberlain, the all-time NBA rebound leader with 23,924, was 25 when he reached 5,000.

"The big guy was really aggressive," Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Rashard Lewis added 21 for Orlando (55-18), who won their sixth consecutive game to stay percentage points ahead of Boston (56-19) for second place in the Eastern Conference.

Hedo Turkoglu (16), Rafer Alston (13) and Courtney Lee (10) also were in double figures for the Magic. Wade now has 12 40-point games this season.

"Wade is great every night," Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said.

However, the NBA's leading scorer found little help with Mario Chalmers scoring 13 points and Jermaine O'Neal 10.

The loss left fifth-placed Miami (39-35) just a game ahead of Philadelphia (37-35) in the East.

Wade's layup gave Miami a 92-91 lead with 2:51 to play, but the Magic scored six consecutive points, on a free throw by Howard, Lewis's three-pointer and again a layup by Howard to take control.

The Heat retired Alonzo Mourning's number 33 jersey during halftime ceremonies that included a letter from US President Barack Obama.

Reuters

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account