He didn't think he was going to get it. "Not when you've got to battle Dwight Howard to get it,'' TürkoÄŸlu said. "I kept telling Dwight I only needed one, but he's the No. 1 rebounder in the league and it's hard to get one off him.'' Howard had 26 points and 16 rebounds in the Magic's 123-112 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night.
TürkoÄŸlu did get that rebound with just under three minutes to go, giving him 23 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds as the Magic won for the fourth time in five games. “Getting another triple-double is a big deal for me,” said TürkoÄŸlu, who recorded his first just over a month ago against Dallas. “I think I've always had the talent to do it, I'm just getting more of an opportunity to show that this season.”
TürkoÄŸlu and his teammates showed a lot of offense against the Hawks. The Magic shot 54 percent from the field, hitting 15 of 28 3-pointers. Orlando turned the ball over only nine times, including twice in the first half when they tied a team record by scoring 73 points. Rashard Lewis had 22 points for the Magic, who had six players in double figures. Reserve Keith Bogans added 19, Jameer Nelson contributed 13 and Carlos Arroyo had 11.
Atlanta shot 51 percent and was 11-of-17 (65 percent) on 3-pointers, but the Hawks trailed by 21 at halftime and never got the deficit under 10 in the second half. Joe Johnson led the way with 27 points, Bibby had 23, and Josh Smith and Salim Stoudamire 16 apiece for Atlanta.
Orlando shot 61 percent from the field in the first half, including 9-of-16 on 3-point attempts. TürkoÄŸlu hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to give Orlando a 74-53 lead.
Bibby hit his first six shots and scored 15 points to lead a brief Hawks rally in the third period. He fed Smith for a fast-break dunk that cut the Magic lead to 95-85 with 2:07 left in the quarter, but that was as close as the Hawks could get.
Elsewhere, hosts Houston Rockets matched the NBA's third-longest winning streak when they recorded their 19th consecutive triumph with a 91-73 rout of the New Jersey Nets. Tracy McGrady sparked the milestone victory with 19 points. Only the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks have longer streaks, the Lakers winning 33 consecutive games during the 1971-72 season while the Bucks put together 20 successive victories in 1971. The Lakers also had a 19-game winning streak eight years ago. Other NBA results: Boston 100, Philadelphia 86; Cleveland 88, Portland 80; LA Clippers 99, Miami 98; San Antonio 107, Denver 103; Dallas 108, New York 79.
Serra Ataman 