DWIGHT SCORES 30, BUT BOSH GETS WIN

Dwight Howard’s face formed a frown, his shoulders slumped and he shook his head disgustedly late Wednesday night. And the emphasis for the upset feelings wasn’t even that his Orlando Magic lost 99-95 to the Toronto Raptors.

Instead, it was a pride issue that was bothering Dwight most.

``I’m heart-broken and now I’ve got to take my rival out to dinner,’’ Dwiught said, half-jokingly. ``That’s the deal, loser buys dinner. And I really was looking forward to saving my money.’’

The friendship between Dwight and Bosh goes all the way back to Atlanta when Dwight was a high school senior at Southwest Christian High School and Bosh was a freshman star at Georgia Tech.

Their bond has strengthened through the years as they have competed together for Team USA. The two worked out together, along with Carlos Boozer, during the Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

Dwight got the best of Bosh statistically on Wednesday, outscoring him 30 to 24. Bosh had more rebounds (12 to 9) and more blocked shots (three to one), but Dwight had three steals.

But Bosh did hit a dagger of a shot over Dwight with 23.6 seconds remaining to keep the Raptors up three points as Orlando drew close. Dwight was up on Bosh on the play, making him shoot over his outstretched arm.20Still, Bosh hit nothing but net.

``I was right in his face, but he just hit a tough shot,’’ Dwight said. ``There’s nothing more you can do about it. Had I laid back he probably made the three. But that was a contested shot and he still made it.’’
Bosh, who made 10 of 20 shots, admitted that that basket was his toughest of the night.

``I have to give credit to Dwight because he played good initial defense,’’ Bosh said. ``I knew I didn’t have much time and I had to get a shot up to the basket. I didn’t really know where I was on the court, but I had to get up a shot. It felt good as soon as it left my hand.’’

The loss ended the Magic’s six-game winning streak and dropped Orlando (55-19) a game back of Boston (57-19) in the race for the No. 2 seed. The Celtics rallied at the end of regulation and the first overtime and beat Charlotte in two OTs.

Dwight is hoping that Wednesday’s loss to Toronto will be a wake-up call for the Magic, especially with Cleveland coming to town for a nationally televised showdown on Friday.

``I don’t think it’s our focus as much as it is our energy. We didn’t come out with a lot of energy and Toronto did,’’ Dwight said. ``We’ve got to be consistent with our energy and effort. Cleveland is playing the best basketball of all the teams in the NBA, so we know what they are going to come in here with. We have to come out Friday with a better effort.’’