Lewis shines as Magic beat Bucks

ORLANDO, Fla: Rashard Lewis scored 26 points and Hedo Turkoglu had 24 to lift the sharp-shooting Orlando Magic to a 102-83 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in the teams' season opener Wednesday night.

Behind Turkoglu and Lewis, making his Eastern Conference debut, the Magic buried Milwaukee from behind the arc. Orlando was 12-of-22 from there, compared with 4-of-17 for the Bucks. Lewis was 4-of-5 on threes and Turkoglu 3-of-5.

The Magic shot better from three-point range (54 percent) than the field (44 percent).

Michael Redd scored 25 points for Milwaukee and Bobby Simmons added 16. Yi Jianlian had nine points and three rebounds in 25 minutes in his debut, sitting for several stretches in foul trouble. Andrew Bogut finished with 11 rebounds.

Yi's first NBA statistic was a steal followed by a turnover to which he responded the next play by blocking a layup by Turkoglu. The 7-footer scored his first NBA basket about 30 seconds later on a 22-foot jumper.

"For me the NBAis not battleground, it is just like a stage of my own," Yi told China Daily in a telephone interview. "It is kind of exciting to show your skills at the highest stage in the world of basketball."

"I don't what to give myself a score like a student right now. I feel OK and I am sure I can play better."

Dwight Howard had 16 points and 12 rebounds. Perhaps most importantly for Orlando, he hit eight of 10 free throws.

Trailing 56-55 a few minutes into the third quarter, the Magic took off on a 28-8 run keyed by Turkoglu and Lewis.

Turkoglu sparked the run with a sharp play to draw Yi's fourth foul. The seven-year veteran caught the rookie in the air, passing up an open jumper to lean in for contact and two free throws.

Simmons scored nine of Milwaukee's first 10 points in the second quarter, and the Bucks built a 41-34 lead midway through the period. Turkoglu and Howard led Orlando back with an 8-0 run over the next two minutes, and Lewis scored four in the quarter's final 2:33 to give the Magic a 48-46 halftime lead.

In Cleveland, Jason Terry scored 24 points, Dirk Nowitzki added 15 and the Dallas Mavericks opened 2007-08 with a 92-74 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Mavericks held a foul-plagued LeBron James scoreless in the first half and dominated the defending Eastern Conference champions.

Jerry Stackhouse added 17 points for Dallas, which got six three-pointers from Terry and finished 9-of-18 behind the arc.

James had the worst opening night of his brilliant career. He had 10 points on 2-of-11 shooting and was a non-factor in the Cavaliers' most lopsided home loss since April 5, 2005.

At Memphis, Manu Ginobili scored 30 points, including the go-ahead basket with 32 seconds left, for San Antonio against Memphis 104-101.

Agencies and China Daily

(China Daily 11/02/2007 page24)