Orlando Magic at Miami Heat

Magic win 6th straight, top Heat 104-99 in East showdown

Nikola Vucevic scored 24 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, Jonathan Issac added 19 and the Magic extended their longest winning streak in eight years to six games by topping the Miami Heat 104-99.

"This time of year is when it's the most important," Vucevic said. "We're fighting for a playoff spot and to win six is really huge and it gives us a big advantage right now so we've got to keep it up."

D.J. Augustin scored 17 points and Aaron Gordon finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic (37-38), who won the season series with Miami 3-1 and moved past the Heat (36-38) into eighth in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Evan Fournier scored 11 points for Orlando, which hasn't had a winning streak this long since January 2011.

"It's really encouraging. It's fun," Gordon said. "There's an energy, there's a buzz in the gym when we come in, and it's just a beautiful thing."

"You're going to feel great joy from wins and you're going to feel great pain from losses," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "That's how you want to be measured."

Orlando dominated Miami on the backboards, outrebounding the Heat 55-39.

Waiters made a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left to get Miami within three, but Augustin made a pair of foul shots to seal the win.

Orlando clearly wasn't deterred by the longer-than-usual intermission. The Magic controlled the third quarter, taking their first lead of the game with 5:11 left in the period on a 3-pointer by Issac. Orlando shot 57 percent in the quarter, held the Heat to 30 percent from the floor in those 12 minutes, outscored Miami by 15 points and took a 76-70 lead into the fourth.

Miami has eight games left, which would be the last eight games of Wade's career if the playoffs are missed.

"We're in the fight," Wade said. "We've got a chance."

TIP-INS

Magic: This game started a four-game trip against East playoff contenders, with stops left in Detroit, Indiana and Toronto. "We're going to have to go on the road and do it, but we have more than enough talent," Orlando coach Steve Clifford said. ... This was the 14th and final back-to-back of the season for the Magic. They were 10-4 in openers, 6-8 in second games.

MILESTONE

Wade now has 23,004 points in his career, the 30th NBA player to cross that threshold. He still has a chance of catching Elgin Baylor (23,133) for 29th on the league's career list.

CONSISTENT

The Magic have used the same starting lineup in 28 straight games, going back to Jan. 23. To put that in some perspective, since Jan. 23 the Heat have used eight different starting lineups.

PECULIAR

UP NEXT

Magic: Visit Detroit on Thursday.

Heat: Host Dallas on Thursday.

---

Regular Season Series

ORL wins series 3-1