Miami Heat lose to Orlando Magic 102-89

ORLANDO, Fla. - No, it was not a good day for LeBron James and the Miami Heat.

They were slapped around early.

And then late.

It started with Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins questioning James' social-media skills.

It continued with an ESPN interview with Larry Bird pointing out how he views Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant as more of a winner than James.

Along the way, Oscar Robertson chimed in about how the Heat won't win a championship without an upgrade at center.

And it got worse, namely with a putrid third period that dropped the Heat to a 102-89 loss Wednesday night to the Orlando Magic at the Amway Center at the start of this six-game trip.

The shots from Perkins, Bird and Roberson merely were a prelude to the way Magic center Dwight Howard slapped around the Heat on the way to 25 points and 24 rebounds. It was Howard's sixth 20-20 of the season, as many as the rest of the league combined.

Factor a barrage from the Magic's 3-point shooters, including five from Magic power forward Ryan Anderson in his 27-point effort, and it was more than enough to offset a second-quarter scoring blitz from Heat guard Dwyane Wade, who made nine consecutive shots in the period on the way to 33 points.

But with LeBron James limited to 5-of-15 shooting, including a scoreless third quarter, and his first points of the second half not coming until 2:13 remained, this simply wasn't James' night.

Or day.

It started with a Yahoo Sports report in which Perkins called out James for using his Twitter account last week to highlight how Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin posterized Perkins with the season's signature dunk. Perkins said a true star wouldn't revel in another players' humiliation.

ESPN then cycled through their interview with Bird, with the Boston Celtics legend essentially calling Kobe more of a winner and James more of a fun teammate, one he would have enjoyed playing alongside.

From there, Robertson checked in about Heat shortcomings in the middle that Howard was more than willing to accentuate.

It seemed to end for the Heat with an 11-point third period that featured 5-of-22 shooting from the field and five turnovers. It was the lowest-scoring third quarter of the Big Three era for the Heat.

The Heat went into the fourth quarter down 77-61, before moving within 74-64 midway through the period and later 89-80. But that's where the min-rally ended.

Early on, it was a game of wild swings.

The Magic, particularly Howard, were dominant early in moving to a 26-18 lead at the end of the opening period. Howard had 11 points and 10 rebounds in the opening period against the defense of Joel Anthony and Dexter Pittman. The Magic also were 4 of 9 on 3-pointers over the opening 12 minutes.

The Magic then extended their lead to 17 in the second period, continuing to shoot lights out, with Anderson making three 3-pointers in the period on the way to a 17-point period and 24-point first half.

But with Wade making his first nine shots of the second period and Shane Battier offering quality defense, the Heat moved within 53-50 at the intermission, despite shooting just 5 of 10 from the foul line over the first two periods.

The Heat opened with rookie Norris Cole at point guard, with starter Mario Chalmers sidelined by a sprained left hand sustained at the close of the third period of Tuesday's home victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

iwinderman@tribune.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat Copyright © 2012, South Florida Sun-Sentinel