Orlando trims Altantas lead

Magic center Dwight Howard battled foul trouble throughout the night and had just one field goal,finishing with eight points and eight rebounds. Orlando didnt need his offense,though,as it broke out of a series-long shooting funk with 11 3-pointers.

Were a good shooting team, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. This is more of us than what we showed in the first four games8230;This isnt an aberration. Weve been doing this for four years. The first four games were the aberration.

Josh Smith scored 22 points to lead Atlanta,which shot below 40 per cent for just the second time this series. The Magic cruised in the second half,allowing Howard to log his first extended rest of the series in the fourth quarter as their lead crept above 30 points.

In a short turnaround following his teams loss in Game 4,Van Gundy preached patience over panic to his team. It paid off in a big way as Orlando was unselfish in its half court sets and passed the ball to free up shooters. That allowed the Magic to push the pace and keep the game up tempo.