Howard Outplays Garnett

Dwight Howard completely got the better of Garnett in the battle of the third year high school star and the former MVP.

The first few times Dwight Howard played against Kevin Garnett, he was a wide-eyed kid awed by being on the same floor as his idol.

He’s all grown up now.

Howard went toe-to-toe with Garnett, scoring 21 points and grabbing 22 rebounds to lead the Orlando Magic to a 109-98 victory over the slumping Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.

“When I first played against him, I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s KG.’ I was just happy to play against him,” said Howard, who already has grabbed at least 20 rebounds in a game six times in his career.

“After my first two years, I was like, ‘I know I have to play KG. I know all the things he’s going to do.’ I just really tried to get after him and go back at him every time they scored.”

Jameer Nelson added 23 points and Darko Milicic had a season-high 15 points and five rebounds for Orlando, which led by as many as 20 points and cruised after a strong first quarter.

Garnett had 28 points and 11 rebounds, but Minnesota couldn’t keep up with the young, athletic Magic on the defensive end and lost its fourth in a row after a 2-0 start. #