Published Monday, January 12, 2009 6:05 AM

Howard, Nelson lead Magic past Spurs

Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO -- Dwight Howard scored 24 points, Jameer Nelson had eight of his 22 in the final two minutes, and the Orlando Magic beat the San Antonio Spurs 105-98 on Sunday night.

Hedo Turkoglu added 21 points for the Magic (30-8), who are tied with the Boston Celtics for the Eastern Conference lead in victories. Orlando has won four straight and 13 of 15 games.

The Magic were 14 of 22 from 3-point territory.

Tony Parker scored 31 points for the Spurs (24-12), but missed a pair of layups in the final two minutes as San Antonio closed the game by missing six of seven shots.

The Spurs had won four straight. They next meet Los Angeles on Wednesday for the first time since the Lakers' five-game victory in the Western Conference finals.

The Magic took a 74-72 lead to the fourth quarter when Turkoglu made two free throws after a hand-check foul was called against the Spurs' Bruce Bowen.

The Spurs went ahead 77-74 on Manu Ginobili's 3-pointer less than two minutes into the fourth quarter, but the Magic rallied to grab a three-point lead after consecutive 3-pointers from Keith Bogans, who had just checked into the game for the first time, and Lewis.

Nelson made it 82-79 with 8:22 to go when he drew a shooting foul on Parker and made both free throws.

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