Los Angeles  - The Orlando Magic turned a good day into a better one.

Dwight Howard powered for 22 points with 18 rebounds, Turkish sharpshooter Hedo Turkoglu had 19 points with 11 rebounds, and the Magic dominated the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second half for a 99- 88 victory on Thursday night, in a showdown between Eastern Conference powerhouses.

"Tonight, we played our game," Howard said, "We shot with confidence. We played inside and out and everybody locked in. We made sure we played good defence and made them make tough shots. That's what we have to do."

Hours after being named by coaches as East All-Star reserves, Rashard Lewis scored 19 points, Jameer Nelson added 18 as Orlando (35-10) improved to 18-4 in the last
22 games.

"I would have been happy if Jameer made it and I didn't, because I made it before," Lewis said. "I thought it would be a long shot for me, because there are a lot of good forwards and I fly under the radar. It feels good good to be an All-Star."

"It's a great honor," said Nelson, named to his first All-Star team. "We believe in each other, and it's been my teammates who put me in the situations to be successful like I have been."

With Howard already being voted in by fans as the starting centre for the East, the Magic became the only team in the NBA to boast three All-Stars.

"There's days in your organization when it's tough up around the office, when things just aren't going right," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said.

"Then there are real good days, when you get three guys on the All-Star team - two named today - and get a win over the best team in the league: that's a pretty good day for your organization, right there."

All-Star LeBron James had 23 points but struggled, hitting just 10-of-27 shots to go along with eight rebounds and eight assists for Cleveland (35-9) which dropped from the league's top spot behind idle Boston (38-9) after having its four-game winning streak snapped.

"We missed a lot of easy shots," James said. "Me personally, I missed a lot of easy shots. Some teams, if you miss shots and don't make them shots with them, they can get off to a big lead. They were able to break the lead open in the third quarter ... The momentum shifted."

Trailing by one at half-time, Orlando turned up the defensive pressure and outscored the Cavs 24-16 in the third quarter to take a 79-72 advantage before breaking open the game.

The Magic started the final frame on a 20-2 run, highlighted by a barrage of three-pointers from Anthony Johnson, Lewis, Turkoglu and Nelson, to open up a 99-74 cushion with 5:20 remaining en route to the convincing home victory.

"I was happy with the way we got the win," said Van Gundy, referring to the 32 second-half points allowed by the Magic.

"They come into tonight with the best record; they've been playing outstanding basketball. I thought our defence in the second half was outstanding." (dpa)