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Bulls Vs. Magic: Orlando Hosts NBA's Best In Chicago

One day after losing to the Heat in Miami, the Magic host the team with the best record in the league on Monday night, the Chicago Bulls.

Mar 8, 2012; Chicago, IL, USA; Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard (12) blocks the shot of Chicago Bulls power forward Carlos Boozer (5) during the second half at the United Center. The Magic won 99-94. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-US PRESSWIRE
Mar 8, 2012; Chicago, IL, USA; Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard (12) blocks the shot of Chicago Bulls power forward Carlos Boozer (5) during the second half at the United Center. The Magic won 99-94. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-US PRESSWIRE

One day after losing by ten on the road in Miami, the Orlando Magic hosted the other top team in the Easter Conference in the Chicago Bulls. Against the one of the best defensive teams in the league, the Magic struggled mightily on offense as some of their old cold streaks came back to haunt them, finishing with just 33 points in the first 24 minutes. The Bulls went to the locker room with a 15-point lead.

Dwight Howard and Ryan Anderson lead Orlando with eight points each. Howard also grabbed four boards but was saddled with two early fouls. Omer Asik drew one of the fouls on a complete flop that the refs fell for. Dwight quickly made his displeasure known to Asik after the play, as you can tell from the animated gifs below:

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The Bulls, meanwhile, are shooting 50 percent from the floor with Carlos Boozer absolutely on fire on the interior. Boozer has hit eight of ten shots and leads all scorers with 16 points. The Magic will have to hit some shots in the second half if they want to get back in it against the defensively stout Bulls.

For more on the Magic, please visit Orlando Pinstriped Post, SB Nation's Magic blog. For the perspective from the other side, please visit SB Nation Chicago and BlogABull, SB Nation's Bulls blog. For all things NBA, visit SB Nation's NBA hub.

Photographs by cstreet.us, thelastminute, turtlemom nancy , fesek, kthypryn, justinwright, sue_elias, pointnshoot, and scrapstothefuture used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.