Magic reappears as Arenas, Howard fuel win over Spurs

Gilbert Arenas had 14 points and nine assists off the bench, and the reconstructed Orlando Magic cruised past visiting San Antonio, 123-101, last night to snap the Spurs' 10-game winning streak.

Arenas added six rebounds backing up a sick Jameer Nelson, fellow newcomer Jason Richardson had 15 points and the Magic snapped a skid of eight losses in nine games to win for the first time since they orchestrated two blockbuster trades.

Dwight Howard also had 29 points and 14 rebounds in another dominant performance for Orlando, which shot 59 percent from the floor.

"For a team that hasn't practiced [together] yet, really, to go out there and perform the way we did just shows how much talent we have in this room," Arenas said. "A month from now, we should be dangerous."

Tony Parker scored 16 points, Tim Duncan had 12 and the NBA-best Spurs (25-4) dropped their first game in almost a month. San Antonio looked very much like a tired team after beating Denver a night earlier and nothing like the one that has dominated the first third of the season.

Not that the Magic were complaining.

They were free-falling even before the two trades Saturday brought Arenas from Washington and Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu and Earl Clark from Phoenix. They gave up Rashard Lewis, Vince Carter, Mickael Pietrus and Marcin Gortat, plus a 2011 first-round draft pick and cash, in the deals.

Orlando lost at Atlanta and then returned home to be defeated by Dallas. The slide dropped the Magic from first to sixth in the Eastern Conference, and how all the changes were supposed to work has been the great unknown.

The initial success might not make things any clearer.

Arenas, the centerpiece of the Magic's makeover, again came off the bench but played heavy minutes. He entered with the Spurs leading by six in the first quarter and didn't come out the rest of the half, leading an outpouring of offense to help Orlando take a 62-53 lead at the break.

Nelson was so sick with a stomach ailment that he needed to have intravenous fluids at halftime, a team spokesman said. He started the second half but was pulled for Arenas just after a minute into the third quarter by Magic coach Stan Van Gundy and didn't return until the game was a rout.

It was a Magic show without him. Among the highlights: Arenas stole the ball and had a full-court outlet pass to Richardson for a dunk. Turkoglu rekindled his backdoor, alley-oop pass to Howard. And Redick and Richardson hit three-pointers on cue.

In another game:

* At Sacramento, Earl Boykins scored 19 points and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Kings, 84-79.

* The Miami Heat and Phoenix Suns are without two of their biggest stars. Heat guard Dwyane Wade was sidelined last night because of a sore left knee and Vince Carter, one of Phoenix's three new players, was out with the same problem.

* The lawyer for WNBA standout Diana Taurasi tells the Associated Press that the former UConn star has tested positive for a mild stimulant while playing in a pro basketball league overseas. Howard Jacobs said that Taurasi's A sample came back positive from a Turkish lab and she was provisionally suspended by the Turkish league she's playing in. Taurasi has requested that her B sample be tested. Jacobs said the substance "was not a steroid or recreational drug," however he refused to identify it.

The Phoenix Mercury star served 1 day in jail and was suspended by the WNBA for two games in 2009 after pleading guilty to a DUI charge.

* Orlando Magic rookie center Daniel Orton is recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. *