Magic Vs. Bulls: Dwight Howard Dominant In 99-94 Win

Dwight Howard finished with a double-double, scoring 29 points and grabbing 18 rebounds, as the Orlando Magic hung on for a 99-94 win over the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night. With trade rumors swirling, Howard put on a show, dominating much of the game as the Bulls tried to find an answer inside. With Derrick Rose struggling, Carlos Boozer helped pick up the slack, but Chicago ran out of steam as the Magic hung on for the win.

Howard got plenty of help from his supporting cast as three other Orlando starters finished in double figures. Jason Richardson added 18 points, Hedo Turkoglu scored 13 points and gave us this amazing moment, and Ryan Anderson finished with 11. Jameer Nelson just missed making it 5-for-5 Magic starters in double-figures, finishing with nine points.

You’ll want to see the GIF. Trust us.

If this whole basketball thing doesn’t work out, Duhon needs to take this show on the road. He’s got a future on the air guitar circuit.

It’s just not a good idea to touch a ref, as Hedo Turkoglu found out on Thursday. Turkoglu was trying to passionately plead his case when he got a little too close for comfort, leading to an immediate tech. On the plus side, the tech led to a great GIF.

Pay close attention to the fan in the white sleeves in the background. Watch his gestures. Also notice Carlos Boozer’s celebration and the ref’s face when Hedo makes contact. Everything is wonderful.

Not even sure what hurt more after this: his arm, his face or the rest of his body. Kind of shocking to see a seven-footer parallel to the ground in mid-air, too.

Big Baby used a nice little up fake to get Rose to chase before setting his feet for the shot. And then ... nothing. No rim, no net ... just nothing.

The setup kind of makes this. He does all this work and then just completely whiffs on the shot.

He was back at it again on Thursday, and this time he beat the halftime buzzer in ridiculous fashion. While his two buzzer beaters on Sunday were pretty standard shots, this one was far from normal.

And if you’re looking for a GIF from the reverse angle, we’ve got that too.

With reporters gathered around him, Howard broke out his best Barkley, and it was actually pretty good. The clip, which was played on TNT on Thursday, was short, but the impression was hilarious. To top it all off, Howard got a dig in at Shaq at the end after a reporter requested a second imitation.

That’s Howard saying “I don’t have captions, I can’t talk...” when asked to do his Shaq impression.

It won’t be easy for the Magic to upend the Bulls considering they’ve lost just two games at the United Center this season -- and won nine of their last 10 overall -- but the Bulls might be a bit tired following last night’s victory as Rose hit one of four game-winners around the league. That could also add extra momentum on the Chicago side, however, making it a likely uphill battle for the Magic.

If they want to convince Dwight Howard to stay, however, maybe the team will pull off the upset.