Dwight Howard had 22 points and 16 rebounds in a bruising battle with Shaquille O'Neal, and the host Orlando Magic beat Cleveland, 101-95, Sunday for the Cavaliers' first three-game losing streak in two years.

"He's a big load," Howard said of O'Neal, who had taken offense recently to Howard being called Superman. "You just got to get in there and fight him. You got to get out there and wrestle with him. You got to make him work."

They both did plenty of that.

Howard was 8-for-13 shooting and added four blocks, and Vince Carter had eight of his 11 points in the fourth quarter to help the Magic beat Cleveland for the first time this season.

O'Neal made his first eight shots and finished with 20 points, and LeBron James had 33 points and nine rebounds for the Cavaliers, who were eliminated by Orlando in last year's Eastern Conference Finals.

"Dwight is one of the only true big men left. I'm sure he doesn't mind a little bit of physicality," said O'Neal, who avoided any verbal jabs at Howard after this one. "I darn sure don't mind it. Two big, strong guys. Old ball, young ball going at it. Fun game to watch."

Stayed tuned. Might be plenty more matchups this season.

Although the Cavaliers' losing skid -- all since acquiring Antawn Jamison from Washington -- comes on the heels of a 13-game winning streak, they still lead Orlando by five games. And with the Magic starting to play their best basketball, a conference finals rematch might be in store.

"We play the way we're playing, they play the way they're playing, we'll eventually meet," Howard said.

The hoopla surrounding the Howard-Shaq squabble over the Superman nickname finally lived up to the billing, and for a February game it sure felt like June.

O'Neal tipped in a missed shot, and Anthony Parker made a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to three with time winding down.

But after James missed a 3-pointer on Cleveland's next possession, Rashard Lewis made a 3 -- from the same spot where he sent the Game 6 clincher into overtime last year -- with 20.1 seconds remaining to seal the Magic's win.

Jamison, acquired from Washington earlier this week, had 19 points -- after starting his Cleveland career 0 for 12 -- but still doesn't know what it feels like to win with his new team.

"I think Antawn is really going to benefit us, we are just going through a little transition period right now trying to figure out lineups and figuring out certain sets," James said.

Until the last few minutes, though, it was Superman vs. Superman.

"I don't think he smiled tonight so that should make everybody happy," said Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, referring to how some perceive Howard as a happy-go-luck center. "He's playing as well as anybody in the league."

And suddenly, so are the Magic. "Sometimes people do forget that we're the defending Eastern Conference champions," Lewis said. "That's OK. We just got to keep playing hard, because we know we might see them again."

• Nuggets 114, Celtics 105: J.R. Smith scored 16 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter as host Denver recovered from blowing an early 20-point lead to beat Boston.

• Grizzlies 104, Nets 94: Rudy Gay scored 29 points as visiting Memphis rallied from an 18-point first-half deficit to defeat New Jersey, adding to the woes of the Nets (5-51).

• Pistons 109, Spurs 101: Richard Hamilton scored 27 points and Rodney Stuckey added 20 to lead Detroit past visiting San Antonio in overtime. Manu Ginobili's layup tied the score with 27.5 seconds left in regulation.

• Thunder 109, Timberwolves 107: Kevin Durant scored 32 points to extend his streak of games with at least 25 points to 28 games to lead surging Oklahoma City past host Minnesota.

• Hornets 102, Rockets 94: David West scored 27 points, including four in the final two minutes, to lift New Orleans to the victory against visiting Houston. Darren Collison added 26 points for New Orleans.

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