Magic able to levitate to top spot

The Orlando Magic took first place from the Atlanta Hawks in the Southeast Division with a 104-86 victory on Saturday. The Magic, who trailed the Hawks by a half-game before the clash, took over the top spot with their third successive win over Atlanta this season. Dwight Howard was on song with 31 points and 19 rebounds for the Magic, who opened the game up in the third quarter.

Howard said he was focused on his team's success rather than his own personal performance. "I wasn't concerned about numbers tonight," he said. "We just wanted to play aggressively at both ends. We're trying to be more aggressive and for the most part, we did that." Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford each had 19 points for Atlanta who have now lost their last six matches to the Magic. The Hawks coach Mike Woodson admitted his side struggled: "We haven't figured [Orlando] out, that's all I can tell you.

"It's about coming out and having a lot of heart and we didn't do that for 48 minutes." Meanwhile, Andre Miller scored a career-high 52 points and Juwan Howard hit a jumper with 44.8 seconds left in overtime to help Portland beat the Dallas Mavericks 114-112. Miller, who hit 25 of his points in the fourth quarter and overtime, said: "I just wanted to stay aggressive. I didn't look at it as scoring the ball, but just going out and making plays and being the point guard. The shots came and since they were going in, I kept shooting."

Portland scored the final six points, including Miller's layup that tied the game at 112. Howard then connected on a 15-foot jumper that gave Portland the lead on their next play. Dirk Nowitzki scored 28 points for the Mavericks but missed two shots in the final minute that could have sent the game into a second overtime. * With agencies