Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images

If there is one thing we know about Stan Van Gundy, it’s that he’s a pretty quiet guy, reticent to speak his mind to the media, and wholly above speaking publicly in any way that might ruffle fans’ or players’ feathers. That’s why we can be certain that earlier this week, when he made the following comments, Stan had no sort of ulterior motive or objective in mind:

“There’s no matchup for [Dwight Howard] that creates the excitement,” Van Gundy said. “If you got back to when the centers were king, you have Chamberlain-Russell and people say ‘Wow, that’s a match-up you look forward to.’ Now people look forward to Chris Paul against Derrick Rose.”

What Stan was saying, subtext aside, is that the lack of a nemesis is keeping Dwight Howard’s hype factor down. Well, is he right? There are a couple of different ways to approach this. First, let’s look at a crude measure of the league marquee, the 2011 All-Star rosters. Yao Ming aside, there are only three players who were listed either as centers or forward/centers. One of them was Kevin Love. Another was Al Horford. The third was Pau Gasol, who could be seen as a bona fide A-list big man, but I’m not sure that most people think of his battles in the same way they do LeBron/Kobe or Rose/Paul. The other big man on the list who might qualify is Kevin Garnett, and the popular narrative about the Celtics has been that Kendrick Perkins did the heavy lifting when it came to guarding D12. So, on the face of it, taking as limited a sample as I guess you could, it seems like Stan is right: there are currently no direct match-ups for Dwight that seem worthy of the hype that wing or point guard matchups might garner.

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• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel; “The mounting odds and the New York Knicks were too much to overcome for the Orlando Magic – or what was left of them. The Magic had only eight players available in the second half, and fell to the struggling Knicks 113-106 Monday night in overtime at Madison Square Garden. They also lost Dwight Howard in the extra period after he fouled out and picked up his 17th technical foul (one more tech and he will be suspended for a game). ‘It was tough after that,’ coach Stan Van Gundy said. Howard protested his sixth foul on an offensive rebound with one minute, 17 seconds left, and Orlando behind 108-106. He angrily flung the ball to the other end of the floor. ‘It was one of those crazy games,’ Magic point guard Chris Duhon. How crazy? Duhon injured his right thumb and was unable to play in the second half, leaving the Magic (47-27) with only one point guard — Gilbert Arenas — and just eight players. Arenas, subbing for Jameer Nelson (sprained knee), made his first start for the Magic and scored just nine points on 2-of-11 shooting.”
• Gilbert Arenas had a chance to shine against the New York Knicks, and blew it.
• Britt Robson of Sports Illustrated: “Monday’s loss to the Knicks made it plain that the Magic have glaring depth problems at point guard as well as center. With Jameer Nelson sidelined with a sprained knee, coach Stan Van Gundy went with Gilbert Arenas and Chris Duhon at the point. It’s a strategy that will be akin to playing Russian roulette with Orlando’s season if Van Gundy repeats it in the playoffs. The pair managed to get Dwight Howard enough touches for just two shots in the first half against an opponent that didn’t play a legitimate center the entire night. Right now, it appears that the productive part of Arenas’ career is toast. Along with an inability to set up Howard, he shot 2-of-11, which is actually an improvement on his 1-of-12 performance in his previous game (for the season, he is at 36.4 percent). And in March, Arenas has more turnovers than assists. Turnovers are also a problem for Duhon, who is committing them at an incredibly high rate of 32.7 per 100 plays. Duhon missed the second half against New York with a bruised thumb, leaving Arenas as the only healthy point guard.”
• Matt Moore of CBSSports.com on Dwight Howard’s sixth foul against the Knicks: “You can definitely argue that Howard is being fouled simultaneously by Chauncey Billups. But you can’t argue that that’s not a foul on Howard for shoving Stoudemire in the face, just as you can’t argue that MVP’s should be picking up technicals which can result in suspensions during the stretch run to the playoffs, just as you can’t argue Howard should be surprised at this point by either the officials’ calls or their reaction to his protests over their calls. It wasn’t a phantom foul. Stan Van Gundy and Howard have a legitimate case that Howard doesn’t get the calls he should during the game, but it’s impossible to argue that Howard didn’t commit a foul on this play. A tough break for the Magic on a night full of them.”
• The Magic’s defense faltered last night.
• Head coach Stan Van Gundy is sick and tired of the coverage surrounding the Miami Heat and New York.
• The Knicks won an ugly game yesterday.
• It turns out that points in the paint doesn’t correlate to highly-efficient NBA offenses.
• Dan Devine of Ball Don’t Lie revisits Carmelo Anthony’s tripping antics in overtime: “On the other hand, however, it was clear watching in real-time (and even clearer running the play back now in the clip above) that Carmelo reached out, grabbed [Jason] Richardson‘s leg, then hit the deck after Richardson responded, but the officials only penalized the retaliation. The whistle waved off a Hedo Turkoglu 3-pointer at the other end of the court that would have tied the game with 51.8 seconds left in overtime. Instead, New York was handed the ball with a 3-point lead that they’d never relinquish, as Orlando failed to score another point.”
• Sebastian Pruiti of NBA Playbook: “During their game against the New York Knicks, the Orlando Magic found themselves down three points with about 40 seconds left as they secured the defensive rebound. After some ball movement and scrambling by the defense, the Magic had Amar’e Stoudemire covering Hedo Turkoglu. As Turkoglu tried to take advantage the defense collapsed on him. However, instead of kicking it out, he settled for the contested jumper.”

AP Photo/Bill Kostroun

BOX SCORE

On a night where people could have mistakenly confused the quality of officiating in a regulation NBA game for some of the sketchy refereeing that plagued the 2011 NCAA Tournament in the early rounds, the New York Knicks were able to defeat the Orlando Magic by the score of 113-106 in overtime. The loss snaps a five-game winning streak for the Magic. Normally, refs have little impact in the outcome of a game because, ultimately, it comes down to the players and coaches to come away with a result one way or the other. But it’s hard to ignore shoddy calls made by the officials late in the fourth quarter, as well as overtime, that aided in Orlando’s inability to come away with a victory. More on that later. The Knicks were led by a fantastic performance from Carmelo Anthony, as he finished with 39 points (on 12-of-26 shooting from the field) and 10 rebounds. Anthony’s lack of enthusiasm to play defense is well-documented in the league, but his activity on that end of the floor was fantastic. Anthony put forth an honest effort defensively, and his teammates were quick to follow his lead. Although New York still gave up more than 100 points, the commitment to playing defense was there. The Magic were led by a balanced attack, as five players scored in double-figures. Dwight Howard finished with 29 points and 18 rebounds. Jason Richardson stepped up, especially in crunch-time, and dropped 24 points. Hedo Turkoglu was masterful, once again, with 18 points and four assists. Brandon Bass had 14 points, while Ryan Anderson had 10 points. A big problem for Orlando was that they played short-handed. Not only was Jameer Nelson, J.J. Redick, and Quentin Richardson sidelined with injuries, but Chris Duhon jammed his right thumb and was unable to return after the second quarter, leaving head coach Stan Van Gundy with seven rotation players. Unfortunately for the Magic, that wasn’t the end of the bad news.

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• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “It wouldn’t be shocking at all if the New York Knicks — the Magic’s opponent tonight — make a play for Dwight Howard next season, perhaps offering either Amar’e Stoudemire or Carmelo Anthony at trade deadline for the all-star center. Howard can become a free agent after next season, and the Magic will be nervously waiting for the NBA’s most dominant big man to make a decision. If they don’t want to wait and risk losing him without compensation, the Magic could listen to trade offers for Howard next season. It’s when they have some leverage. Teams in the NBA will be falling all over themselves in attempts to pry Howard away from Orlando — at the trade deadline and, obviously. next summer if, or when, he’s free. The Knicks are desperate for a center. You don’t think they’d part with either Anthony or Stoudemire for Howard? Stoudemire has had to play the role of the Knicks’ big man this season, and it has worn him down.”
• Head coach Stan Van Gundy is complimentary of a fellow coach.
• John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com: “The Orlando Magic are a wacky collection of characters and off-center personalities as evidenced by their recent vow to not shave their facial hair until after their playoff run is complete (hopefully in the NBA Finals, of course). But head coach Stan Van Gundy pointed out something recently about a couple of the Magic players that is a true rarity in NBA locker rooms. According to Van Gundy, Ryan Anderson is much better than even the power forward thinks he is and the coach is constantly harping on him use his talent to attack. Then, there’s the case of reserve point guard Chris Duhon, who has taken care of the ball and defended the way the Magic have hoped, but for whatever reason he’s shown a reluctance to shoot the ball. It’s gotten so bad at times that it’s been like the Magic are playing four on five offensively because of Duhon’s unwillingness to pull the trigger on shots. Begging a player to shoot more and not less? Again, a true rarity in the sometimes egomaniacal NBA world.”
• Players for the Orlando Magic state their individual goals.
• Vince Carter is not the same player that he was with the Magic. Evan Dunlap of Orlando Pinstriped Post explains: “While it unfolds, the whole scene is surreal to me as I watch from the comfort of my couch. Less than two years ago, the Magic acquired Carter and Ryan Anderson for next to nothing (the expiring contracts of Rafer Alston and Tony Battie, plus the youthful Courtney Lee) in a critically acclaimed move designed to put them over the top in the championship hunt. Now, following a midseason trade and a rocky adjustment period, he’s coming off the bench for a lottery team, and even then only to loiter on the weak side and wait for a kickout.”
• Marc Stein of ESPN.com: “This probably speaks more to the ongoing Boston funk and Miami’s recent 5-6 stretch against .500-or-better teams, but Orlando actually has the East’s second-best record since the All-Star break … at a modest 11-5.”
• M. Haubs of The Painted Area argues that Dwight Howard does more to help the Magic win games than Derrick Rose does for the Chicago Bulls: “Derrick Rose is a great player who has had an outstanding season. He is the best player on the best team in the Eastern Conference. He has been the driving offensive force in pulling out wins in the fourth quarter on several occasions. The Bulls offense as a whole has been excellent when he’s been on the floor. But Derrick Rose has been one of several key factors – defense (and the coaching behind it), Rose, rebounding, bench – in the Bulls’ surprising success this season. He has not been the single primary factor. [...] I was fully ready to swing to the Rose MVP camp following his performance late in the game on Saturday. However, after digging into the evidence, I feel more strongly than ever that Derrick Rose does not deserve to be the 2010-11 NBA MVP, though I have little doubt at this point that he will win the award. I’m going to withhold judgment on my mythical ballot as a whole for another couple weeks.”
• Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk: “Five straight wins and the best center in the game, solid four seed, but nobody mentions them among the contenders in the East. You’ll see more Gilbert Arenas this week, which may not be best for then Magic.”

• Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel: “I planned to write a long-form, detailed look at why Dwight Howard is a more deserving Most Valuable Player than Derrick Rose this morning. In a nutshell, I felt Howard’s presence on both offense and defense was being overshadowed by Rose’s more entertaining story — the young point guard carrying a team of veterans to the conference’s best record is more riveting than the dependable, rock-solid big man making up for his team’s defensive deficiencies to finish fourth in the East. But after what’s happened on the blogs and Twitter today, that argument is played out. While the mainstream media is whole-heartedly behind Rose — as Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy correctly said yesterday — some of the Internet’s most-respected writers have put their support behind the Magic’s superstar center.”
• Maybe next year for Dwight Howard and the MVP award?
• Players for the Orlando Magic will grow beards from now until the season is over.
• Brandon Bass and Gilbert Arenas stood out for their defense last night against the New York Knicks.
• Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie: “This won’t be a terrible miss, handing the MVP to Rose and passing over Dwight Howard. Rose’s all-around play and leadership abilities make him a worthy MVP candidate, and Howard is not without fault. Defending MVP LeBron James misses that party mainly because of his failures this season in terms of leadership and clutch play. With a bit of creativity and less passive/aggressive posturing, James could have led his Miami Heat to the best record in the NBA. Instead, he fell back on bad habits and dribbled that MVP award away.”
• More on the Magic growing playoff beards.
• It’ll be interesting to see Howard with a beard.
• Howard is running away with the most dunks in the NBA.
• Adam Figman of SLAM ONLINE: “On the other side of the country, the Knicks confirmed the fact that, thus far, Denver has gotten the winning side of that little deal the two teams made a few weeks back. New York continued its now-two-week stammer, falling to the Magic at home after Orlando shut them down with a strong fourth quarter. As would be expected, Dwight Howard (33 points, 11 boards, 3 blocks) beasted, and every other Magic starter scored in double figures as well. Carmelo Anthony played modestly and led the Knicks with 24, but it was Amar’e Stoudemire who didn’t come through at all, scoring only 13 on 6-20 shooting from the field.”
• Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk: “The guy who will come in second in the MVP balloting this season is Dwight Howard, but statistics and Stan Van Gundy say he is more deserving. (To be up front, if I had a vote this would be my guy.) He is averaging 23.1 points and 14.2 rebounds a game shooting 60 percent (Rose is 44 percent), but he is also the primary reason the Magic are an elite defensive team. He is integral to everything the Magic do. Where are the Magic without Howard?”
• More on the beards.
• Howard dominated the Knicks in yesterday’s game.

Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “The Orlando Magic may have found their teachable moment Wednesday night. After a first half in which the New York Knicks’ Chauncey Billups, Toney Douglas and Roger Mason Jr. drained 3-pointer after 3-pointer, the Magic returned to the visitors’ locker room inside Madison Square Garden and received a not-so-gentle reminder from their coach. Stan Van Gundy pointed to a dry-erase board that listed what the team wanted to accomplish on defense. Then he asked his players if they had achieved those goals. Nobody answered “yes.” Point made. The Magic ramped up their defense and rode an MVP-caliber offensive performance from center Dwight Howard to recover from an eight-point deficit and beat the slumping Knicks 111-99 at Madison Square Garden. [...] Orlando limited New York to 40 points and 31.8 percent shooting in the second half, prompting what remained of the sellout crowd to boo the Knicks as the final minute ticked off the clock. ‘We didn’t give up a ton of easy shots,’ Van Gundy said. ‘That was the key to the game.’ Superb effort on defense likely will be the key to their rapidly approaching postseason. The Magic have won four consecutive games largely because of their defense.”
• John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com: “Prior to Wednesday night’s game at Madison Square Garden, Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy asked the New York media to hold their votes for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award and consider superstar center Dwight Howard. Howard then went out and backed up his coach’s bold talk with a dominant, do-everything effort that proved worthy of the media not yet awarding the honor to heavy favorite, Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose. Howard demolished New York inside to the tune of 33 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots to lift the Magic to an impressive 111-99 victory and possibly lift himself back into the race to win the league’s MVP honor. Howard was unstoppable on the offensive end, making 11 of 15 shots and a jaw-dropping 11 of 13 attempts from the free throw line. And the two-time Defensive Player of the Year also did solid work on the defensive end, limiting Amar’e Stoudemire to a 2 of 16 shooting start and a pedestrian 13 points in the game.”
• Evan Dunlap of Orlando Pinstriped Post: “In Jared Jeffries and Ronny Turiaf, the Knicks have two players who can handle Howard better than most in the post, but with New York trailing, coach Mike D’Antoni elected to play Stoudemire at center in order to get more offense. His idea, a sound one in theory, backfired. Howard managed to get deep position and gave the Knicks no choice but to foul him. Due to all the foul shots, the fourth quarter won’t exactly make Howard’s season highlight reel, but perhaps his work earlier will. 11-of-15 shooting from the floor for Howard as he chewed up the Knicks with a series of back-to-basket moves. There ought to be no argument anymore about his offensive game: he is well nigh unstoppable on that end most nights.”
• Jonathan Abrams of the New York Times: “Amar’e Stoudemire slowly unwrapped the ice from his knees and unraveled the tape from his ankles before exhaling loudly. He logged more heavy minutes, lost another game, and still assumed the burden of explaining exactly what went wrong. Stoudemire is the model of consistency in this rickety Knicks season, supplying points and filling a leadership void. Those commendable assets were missing Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. Stoudemire scored 13 points — his fewest as a Knick — under a blur of missed shots and opportunities. The Knicks otherwise remained the same. They played capably for three quarters, collapsed badly and rallied late against the Orlando Magic in a 111-99 loss. The outcome dropped the Knicks (35-36) below .500 for the first time in four months, long before the addition of Carmelo Anthony turned from fantasy to reality. On Wednesday, the ‘Me-lo’ chants that greeted Anthony melted into boos that cemented another loss.”
• Howard Beck of the New York Times: “The advice probably sounds strange coming from the N.B.A.’s most famously stressed-out superstar. Jerry West — Lakers legend and Hall of Fame worrier — believes Knicks fans need to relax. Few people have explored the extreme highs and lows of competition as thoroughly as West did over four decades as a player and executive. He took defeat harder than most, tortured himself with unreasonably high expectations and pushed his health to the brink. So West is speaking from a unique place when he counsels Knicks fans fretting over the Carmelo Anthony trade to chill out. The statement is particularly poignant coming from West, the architect of two Laker dynasties (in the 1980s and 2000s), and a star player on another (in the 1960s). Patience was never his strength. West’s teams lost in the finals seven times — an experience that — ‘scarred me even to this day’ — before finally winning a title.”
• Chris Sheridan of ESPN New York: “One month from now, the New York Knicks will be sitting in their locker room, preparing to play Game 3 of their first-round playoff series. And if they are sitting there tied 1-1 in that series, nobody is going to remember what’s been happening this March. So climb off the ledge and get back inside. Knock off the panic. Cool it on the doomsday hysteria. The Knicks might seem like they are in a world of trouble, but they aren’t. And if you don’t want to hear that from a sportswriter, consider this: That message is exactly the message Chauncey Billups delivered to the rest of the team in the wake of their 111-99 loss to the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night, their seventh defeat in the past eight games as they dropped one game below .500 (35-36).”
• Ian Begley of ESPN New York: “The Knicks are just 7-10 since Carmelo Anthony’s arrival, but you can’t put their latest loss all on Anthony’s shoulders. That’s because Amare Stoudemire, the other half of New York’s All-Star tandem, had his worst night as a Knick on Wednesday. Stoudemire missed 15 of 20 shots to finish with a season-low 13 points as New York lost 111-99 to the Orlando Magic. The Knicks have lost four straight and seven of eight, falling under .500 for the first time since Nov. 27. Afterward, Stoudemire blamed fatigue for his subpar night.”

AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

BOX SCORE

The Orlando Magic were able to defeat the New York Knicks by the score of 111-99 to extend their winning streak to four games. This was a game that went back-and-forth for three quarters before the Magic were able to take control in the fourth quarter, and come away with a double-digit victory. Orlando was led by a balanced attack, with five players scoring in double-figures. Dwight Howard continues his race towards the MVP award, even if he’s seen by many as a longshot to win it, as he finished with 33 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocks. The most impressive thing when looking at Howard’s box score wasn’t his point total or even shooting percentage, but his ability to go 11-for-13 from the free-throw line. Howard is already an efficient player by the nature of the types of shots he gets but when he’s making his free-throws, he becomes impossible to contain. The Knicks, especially Amar’e Stoudemire (committed three personal fouls in the fourth quarter trying to defend Howard), found out the hard way. Jameer Nelson had a strong performance with 19 points. Hedo Turkoglu contributed with 16 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists. Brandon Bass had 15 points and seven rebounds, while Jason Richardson chipped in with 12 points and six rebounds. With the win, the Magic inch closer to winning their 50th game of the regular season.

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Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images

• George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel: “Nothing against [Gilbert] Arenas personally, but he is damaged goods. He’s been trying to play on creaky damaged knees for three years, and there obviously appears to be no miracle cure short of Santeria to make Gilbert all better. But enough shots at Arenas. I am here to defend Nelson. The much-maligned Jameer Nelson. The guy who is as much a team leader as Dwight Howard. Dwight Howard is the imposing, great superstar. Jameer Nelson is the heart and soul of this team. Has been for years. Yet fans, media, and even his GM don’t seem to appreciate Jameer all that much. Everybody went gaga when rumors of a trade for Chris Paul surfaced during last year’s NBA Draft. Everybody like to rip Jameer because he is too short and vulnerable on defense and isn’t a ‘true point guard.’ But he’s also the guy who is most clutch at crunch time. He killed the Boston Celtics on Christmas Day when he scored 10 of his 12 points in the game’s final three minutes and recently took out the Denver Nuggets with a buzzer-beating 3-point shot. What more do you want from this guy?”
• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “Here’s Magic General Manager Otis Smith‘s dream, which initially sounds like a nightmare: Smith hopes Gilbert Arenas causes a major controversy. That’s right. Gilbert’s no stranger to dark headlines, of course, but Smith is talking about him stirring things up on the court, not the gun range. Smith wants to see Arenas create waves in Orlando by challenging Jameer Nelson for the starting point-guard job next season — or even seizing it from Nelson. This scenario sounds far-fetched now, given Gilbert’s struggles since arriving in a mid-December trade. [...] Smith’s response came when I asked him about the clouds hovering over Arenas’ future with the Magic. He hasn’t been healthy, bothered by a troublesome left leg. And — as a career starter — Arenas is not happy as Nelson’s back-up, even though he’s showed little progress with his downsized minutes. [...] Smith feels Arenas needs more time, especially with [Stan] Van Gundy. But at some point, as his mentor/father figure since their Golden State days 10 years ago, Smith needs Arenas to justify why he risked making the deal.”
• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “Stan Van Gundy originally tried to solve the Orlando Magic’s turnover problem by talking about the issue and showing pertinent video clips to his players. Didn’t work. His team still committed 20 turnovers in its win Monday night over the Cleveland Cavaliers — the sixth time in their last eight games that the Magic had at least 18 turnovers. So, Van Gundy tried something novel during practice Tuesday at Baruch College in Manhattan. He didn’t use the word ‘turnover.’ The closest he came to discussing it? He urged his players to be sharp in one drill. [...] Before every game, he writes down the keys to that game on a dry-erase board in the Magic locker room. But Van Gundy said he won’t even mention the word ‘turnover’ on the board prior to tonight’s matchup against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.”
• Jonathan Abrams of the New York Times: “The Knicks are on the wrong side of a list of worrisome numbers. They blew a 15-point lead and lost to the Boston Celtics on Monday, their sixth defeat in seven games, and fell to .500 for the first time in more than a month. And who could predict the team’s scoring famine with the acquisition of Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups? Coach Mike D’Antoni pinpointed the team’s most glaring issues at Tuesday’s practice, especially in the fourth quarter. Against the Celtics, Anthony did not score a basket in the second half, during which he was bloodied by a Rajon Rondo elbow near his left eye and left in the final seconds of the 96-86 loss. Amar’e Stoudemire did not score in the fourth quarter as Boston raced away from the Knicks, finishing on a 23-5 run, including the last 10 points of the game. The Knicks have not scored 100 points since Toney Douglas poured in nine 3-pointers last week against Memphis.”
• Howard Beck of the New York Times: “After one loss, Carmelo Anthony blamed a lack of defensive strategy. The next day, he blamed an overabundance of defensive schemes. In Indiana, Anthony upbraided Jared Jeffries for failing to get him the ball on a last-second play. In Detroit, he badgered Toney Douglas for failing to get him the ball in the second half. After his worst game of the season, he walked straight to the team bus, leaving others to explain the loss. Anthony is probably not as petulant, moody or selfish as he projected. But the hand-wringing over his demeanor obscured the Knicks’ broader deficiencies — most of which stem from the trade that brought him here. Their defense is worse. Their ball movement has suffered. And their roster is in shambles.”
• Ian Begley of ESPN New York: “The Knicks are 7-9 since Anthony’s arrival. They fell to 35-35 after Monday night’s loss to the Boston Celtics. The last time New York was .500 was Feb. 11, 11 days before the Knicks finalized the three-team, 13-player deal to acquire Anthony. They enter play on Tuesday in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, a game behind the Philadelphia 76ers. According to some associated with the team, the Knicks players may be pressing. Coach Mike D’Antoni said on Monday night that the team panicked late in the fourth quarter of its loss to the Celtics. He said on Tuesday that the offense was stagnant at times in the final stanza, a common theme in its recent struggles. D’Antoni has observed that the new-look Knicks are ‘not quite sure’ of what they want to do on offense late in games. The Celtics outscored the Knicks 23-4 in the final 7:26 on Monday.”
• Stephen A. Smith of ESPN New York: “Monday night started with the New York Knicks introducing the Boston Celtics to a team we hadn’t seen since the days of Pat Riley, Charles Oakley and Anthony Mason. It continued with blood splattered on the Madison Square Garden floor, punctuated with near fisticuffs from Amar’e Stoudemire — and teammates surprisingly eager to come to his aid. But once the final buzzer sounded and it was time to exhale, seconds removed from evident demoralization of a 96-86 defeat, it was clear these latest representatives of Gotham City didn’t warrant any comparisons at all. Just pity! There are no Oakleys or Masons, just Ronny Turiaf and Jared Jeffries. There isn’t a Riley on the bench, just Mike D’Antoni, who appears to detest everything Riley represented when he was with the Knicks — meaning rigidity and toughness. By now we’ve also learned, excruciatingly, that there is no defense, very little toughness or offensive efficiency, no team in any sense that really matters. Just a collection of NBA-caliber talent paid to wear blue-and-orange uniforms. [...] A season is not made in a week or two any more than a stellar game epitomizes greatness. But if what we’ve witnessed in the past nine days symbolizes anything, it is that the Knicks are falling apart before our very eyes. They’ve lost to sub-.500 teams. They’ve made marginal opposing players look like All-Stars. They’ve appeared disoriented in running plays, at getting to key spots on the floor and forcing misses, transforming themselves into laughingstocks. Privately, as a result, they have lost faith in one another. But especially in their coach.”

Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images

As seen on ABC’s Sunday Dime.

With the Miami Heat coming away with a much-needed victory against the Los Angeles Lakers to snap a five-game losing streak, it’s becoming clear that they’re locked in to the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference — at minimum. There’s 17 games left in the regular season and unless the Heat go on another prolonged losing streak or the Orlando Magic begin winning games left and right, it’s tough to see them falling below their in-state and divisional rival in the standings. As a point of reference, the Magic trail the Heat by three games.

Given that Basketball-Reference’s projected standings and Hollinger’s NBA Playoff odds predict that Orlando will finish with a record of 52-30, thus locking them in to the No. 4 seed, it’s time for the attention to be diverted away from Miami and onto two other teams in the East that pose as more immediate threats.

Meet the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks.

Even though the Hawks lead the Knicks by two and a half games in the standings for the time being, they are predicted to have a photo finish for the race to the No. 5 seed and the rights to play the Magic in the first round of the 2011 NBA Playoffs, each of them hovering around the 44-46 win mark. Thing is, even though Atlanta is “better” in terms of wins and losses, New York owns a better efficiency differential and beat them head-to-head on Sunday by the score of 92-79 with both teams utilizing their revamped rosters.

In the postseason, who would Orlando rather face?

To be honest, it’s a tough call. It’s true that the Magic blitzed the Hawks in the 2010 Eastern Conference Semifinals last season but a lot of things have changed since then. Especially from Orlando’s side, where a majority of the roster has been gutted and refitted after general manager Otis Smith pulled the trigger on two blockbuster trades on December 18. Plus, with Atlanta making the tactical decision of starting Jason Collins against Dwight Howard, that strategy has paid off. The new wrinkle in the discussion is Kirk Hinrich, one of the better defensive point guards in the league and someone that can contain Jameer Nelson, a Hawks killer. Needless to say, the Hawks won’t be an easy matchup for the Magic. And then there’s the Knicks, which boast Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony. Yes, there’s no one for New York that can defend Howard and that might tip the scales in Orlando’s favor. But in a seven-game series, the combined talents of Stoudemire and Anthony are more than enough for the Knicks to pull off the upset. Oh yeah, then there’s that Chauncey Billups character. The Magic had a lot of problems slowing down Stoudemire, Billups, and Anthony in their head-to-head matchup on March 1, so that series wouldn’t be a cakewalk either.

In the grand scheme of things, it’s amazing how far Orlando has fallen when it comes to projecting their fate in the playoffs. Entering the season, the Magic were expected to finish with a top three seed in the Eastern Conference, breeze through the first round, and do battle with either the Boston Celtics or Heat after that.

Now?

Not as easy.

• Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel: “The Orlando Magic know they got a steal when they acquired Ryan Anderson from the New Jersey Nets in the Vince Carter trade back in 2009. Incorrectly labeled a throw-in as part of that deal, Anderson has blossomed into a reliable player for the Magic and the most relevant person involved in the trade (Carter’s wasting away in Phoenix, Lee’s a reserve on a mediocre Houston team, Alston’s out of the league, Battie barely plays in Philadelphia). But just how good is Ryan Anderson? And how good can he be? Some metrics show him as one of the better — or at least most efficient — offensive power forwards in the NBA. A more proficient scorer, at least in his role, than Chris Bosh. A better rebounder than Amar’e Stoudemire. A better jump-shooter than Pau Gasol and Kevin Love. Anderson, 22, is certainly making the most of his minutes, which have at times been sparse. He’s obviously not as good as some of the players he’s compared to below, but his potential and efficiency are apparent.”
• Dwight Howard will try to avoid technical fouls from now on.
• Jason Richardson is sick, but will play against the Sacramento Kings.
• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “The Kings have been fighting the local politicos to get a new arena built for years — and no dice. Commissioner David Stern couldn’t even use his mighty clout to make it happen. Sound familiar? Orlando and Magic fans could have been in the same sinking boat that Kings fans are in. But they pushed through a deal to give birth to the Amway Center just in time, weeks before a recession would have likely derailed the plans again. And who knows what would have happened next.”
• Gilbert Arenas can’t feel his face at times.
• Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk likes Howard as the MVP right now: “What do I look for in my MVP? A player who efficiently pushes himself to a new level and pulls his team to new heights with him. Howard has been very efficient this season and has pushed himself to new levels. I’ll also argue he is pulling the most out of this Magic roster (a roster that is likely to let him down in the playoffs, but that’s another topic). The Magic may be a disappointment, but that is not on Howard. His offensive usage percentage is at his career high but his shooting percentages have not seriously dipped. To me, right now, this is the guy.”
• Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports: “For Howard, there has been just one fleeting benefit to his technical issues: He’s been subjected to fewer questions about whether he’ll leave the Magic when he has the opportunity to become a free agent in the summer of 2012. For a franchise that was scarred for years by Shaq’s decision to leave Orlando for the Los Angeles Lakers, Howard’s future will remain a topic of concern until he either signs a contract extension with the Magic after the league negotiates a new labor agreement – or he leaves.”
• Howard is a legitimate MVP candidate.