Rashard Lewis scores 26 points as Magic beat Knicks 114-102 for 6th straight road victory

Magic top Knicks 114-102 for 6th straight road win

NEW YORK — Rashard Lewis scored 13 of his season-high 26 points in the third quarter, and the Orlando Magic beat the New York Knicks 114-102 on Sunday night for their sixth straight road victory.

Dwight Howard had 24 points and 16 rebounds for the Eastern Conference leaders, who capped a perfect three-game trip over the holiday weekend that started with an impressive win at division rival Atlanta on Thanksgiving. Orlando improved to 50-14 in November the last three years, best in the NBA.

Reserve Nate Robinson scored 24 points for the Knicks, who lost their fifth straight in the opener of a difficult stretch of four games in six nights against teams playing .700 ball. They host Phoenix on Tuesday, visit the Magic on Wednesday and travel to Atlanta on Friday.

Orlando needed a big second-half rally to pull out a 100-98 victory at Milwaukee on Saturday night, but seized control of this one midway through the third quarter.

Lewis’ 3-pointer tied it at 57 early in the period, kicking off a 14-4 run during which he added another 3 as Orlando opened a 68-61 lead. He followed Danilo Gallinari’s free throw with another 3-pointer, and the Magic led by as much as 11 in the period before settling for an 82-73 advantage after Mickael Pietrus’ basket at the buzzer.

The Magic pushed it to 12 early in the fourth, but Robinson scored or assisted on the Knicks’ first 22 points of the period, and his basket cut it to 92-86 with 6:15 to go. New York could come no closer, and Orlando put it away when Lewis hit a 3-pointer and converted a three-point play in a 40-second span that made it 106-92 with 3:19 remaining.

Vince Carter finished with 23 points for the Magic, who were far too deep for a Knicks team that had little besides Robinson once it fell behind.

Jason Williams made a 30-footer to beat the buzzer to end the first quarter, giving the Magic a 31-29 lead. The Knicks opened a six-point advantage on Al Harrington’s three-point play with 4:25 left in the second, but Carter hit a couple of jumpers in the final 1:50 as Orlando went into halftime with a 54-52 edge.

David Lee had 20 points and 12 rebounds for New York.

NOTES: The Knicks played without C Eddy Curry, who missed his third straight game with a sore left knee. … Orlando’s longest road winning streak is seven games, set from Nov. 3-19, 2007, its first seven road games that season. … Orlando is 7-0 against the Atlantic Division, including 5-0 on the road.