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• George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel: “Heart and Hustle is back [Orlando] Magic fans! In case you didn’t get the memo, two exciting plays from Orlando’s playoff victory Tuesday night provide documentation that there’s been a resurrection: J.J. Redick wrestling the ball away from Kirk Hinrich, and, while still on the floor zipping a pass to Jameer Nelson for a breakaway layup. And then, Nelson tugging with Hinrich for possession of the ball, setting up a Hedo Turkoglu layup. [...] Alrighty then, let’s celebrate. Or maybe just ponder a different perspective. Professional basketball players should do the heart and the hustle on every play. They are paid very handsomely to do these things, and many times, all it requires is a little extra effort. Unfortunately, sometimes the egos and the commercial endorsements get in the way, but an occasional floor burn is part of the collateral damage for playing at an elite level. But to a greater point, I’m wondering when the Magic officially transformed themselves into a underdog franchise, a bunch of scrappy guys overachieving, clawing and scratching for every victory?”
• Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel: “Rich DeVos, the 85-year-old owner of the Orlando Magic, gave GM Otis Smith permission to spend as much as he wanted after the team reached the NBA Finals in 2009. Almost two years later, the Magic are now one of the highest-paying teams in all of sports, even out-spending flashy European soccer teams and high-profile Major League Baseball teams with no salary cap restrictions. The Magic pay their players an average of $6,367,114 per year, a number only exceeded by Real Madrid and Barcelona of Spain’s top soccer league, the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Lakers, according to a study by ESPN the Magazine.”
• John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com: “The Orlando Magic have spent the better part of the last eight months together, either practicing, playing or working out almost every day since the voluntary sessions began in September. But still, even to this day, the players and coaches are learning things about one another and the makeup of this team. There was no greater teaching moment than Tuesday’s Game 2 when the Magic started poorly, trailed by as many as 10 points, struggled to make shots and ever so briefly seemed to be staring at a 0-2 hole. But it’s the way they responded – with J.J. Redick and Jameer Nelson diving on the floor for loose balls, with Dwight Howard playing 48 minutes of dominant basketball, with Ryan Anderson giving up his body to take a charge and with Hedo Turkoglu and Jason Richardson shrugging off poor games to make clutch plays late – that spoke volumes about the character of this Magic team. “
• Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “The Cavaliers dominated both games there while sweeping the Hawks in the second round in 2009. The Magic did the same last year, causing Hawks fans to boo the team and All-Star Joe Johnson, who further inflamed them by telling media the Hawks didn’t care if the fans showed up. Home attendance declined for the second consecutive season in 2010-11. There were more big crowds for marquee opponents, but a high percentage of spectators cheered for the visitors. It didn’t help that the Hawks suffered more blowout home losses than any winning team in NBA history, with three defeats by at least 30 points and three others by 20 or more. The Hawks’ home record slipped from 34-7 to 24-17 this season. Only the Knicks won fewer home games among playoff teams. Horford said some players were disappointed by the small and split crowds because they felt fan support didn’t match the team’s success.”
• Jeff Schultz of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “The Hawks’ home record during the regular season was 24-17. That ranked 16^th in the NBA. Many want to blame the lack of success on poor fan support. The problem with that theory is that the only playoff team with a worse home record than Atlanta this season was the Knicks (23-18), who are one of the best-supported teams in the league. [...] But Drew knows: Empty seats or booing fans or too many folks in the crowd pulling for the other team are not legitimate reasons for losing. Teams lose because they lack talent, or interest, or focus.”
  

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Via the Orlando Magic:

Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic is the recipient of the 2010-11 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, the NBA announced today. Howard becomes the first player to earn the honor three straight seasons; only Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace, with four each, have won the award more times.

The 6-11 center led the league with 66 double-doubles, including six 20-point/20-rebound efforts, while ranking second in rebounds (14.1 rpg) and fourth in blocks (2.38 bpg). With Howard manning the middle, the Magic allowed 93.5 ppg, ranking fourth in that category. The seventh-year veteran reached several historical milestones this season, including:

• On March 1 vs. New York, Howard, at 25 years and 83 days old, became the youngest player in NBA history to amass 7,000 career rebounds, passing Wilt Chamberlain, who was 26 years and 128 days old when he passed the 7,000-rebound plateau.
• He recorded at least 1,000 rebounds and 100 blocked shots for the sixth straight year; since blocked shots were officially tracked in 1973-74, only Moses Malone has done it more (seven seasons).
• He became one of only five players in NBA history since blocked shots became an official statistic in 1973-74 to record at least 6,000 rebounds and 1,000 blocked shots in his first 500 games.

As part of its support of the Defensive Player of the Year Award, Kia Motors America will donate a new Kia Sorento CUV to BETA Center, a private, nonprofit organization with 32 years of experience helping families in the greater Orlando area. Kia Motors will present a brand new Sorento to the charity of choice of each of four 2010-11 season-end award winners as part of the “The Kia NBA Performance Awards.” Following this season, Kia Motors will have donated a total of 16 new vehicles to charitable organizations since its support of the NBA’s prestigious year-end honors began with the 2007-2008 season.

Howard received 585 points, including 114 first-place votes, from a panel of 120 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Boston’s Kevin Garnett finished second with 77 points and Dallas’ Tyson Chandler finished third with 70 points. Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote received.

AP Photo/Rich Addicks

BOX SCORE

In a first round playoff preview between rivals from the Southeast Division, the Atlanta Hawks were able to defeat the Orlando Magic by the score of 85-82. With the victory, the Hawks win the season series 3-1 — a complete reversal of fortune from the previous season when the Magic had their way against them in the regular season and the postseason. Like Orlando’s game against the New York Knicks, this game went down to the wire. With less than a minute to go in the fourth quarter, Jameer Nelson was able to make a layup in the lane to tie things up at 82. On the ensuing possession, Atlanta ran a 1/2 pick and roll with Kirk Hinrich and Joe Johnson, an excellent play-call by head coach Larry Drew, and Johnson was able to exploit the confusion in pick and roll coverage by Nelson and Jason Richardson, waltzing his way into the paint for a floater. The shot gave the Hawks a two-point lead, but the Magic still had a chance to tie or take the lead depending on preference. Head coach Stan Van Gundy drew up a play during Orlando’s timeout for Nelson, given that he had success throughout the evening in exploiting Atlanta’s perimeter defense off the dribble. The Magic ran a 1/5 pick and roll with Nelson and Dwight Howard, with Nelson attacking the basket and putting up a floater. But Nelson missed the shot and Jason Collins retrieved the rebound for the Hawks. It’s blind luck for Orlando that Collins rebounded the basketball because he was immediately fouled and given that he’s a poor free-throw shooter, the percentages were not in his favor to make both free-throws and ice the game. Collins badly missed the first free-throw, but made the second to give Atlanta a three-point lead with 5.7 seconds left in regulation. Van Gundy called another timeout, drawing up a play for Hedo Turkoglu. Some questioned whether or not the Hawks were going to foul, given that they were up by three points with roughly five seconds left in the fourth quarter. Usually that’s the time to foul, but Atlanta chose not to. Richardson got the ball at the top of the key and almost hesitated, seemingly as if he was waiting for the Hawks to foul but they didn’t. Richardson let a few seconds go by, then passed the basketball to Turkoglu as he was coming around a screen at the three-point line. Turkoglu caught the ball, but missed the shot and the Hawks won. It was poor execution by the Magic and it’s hard to believe they couldn’t have gotten a better look at a three-pointer.

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Via John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com:

Now, fast forward to this season, and the [Orlando] Magic are an equally driven team as evidenced by the recent five-game winning streak and a gusty overtime effort against New York on Monday even though they were down to just six available players by the final horn.

But the harsh reality for the Magic (47-27) with eight games to play is that they are locked into the Eastern Conference’s fourth seed most likely incapable of moving up or down. Orlando is 4 ½ games back of third-seeded Miami and a comfortable five games ahead of fifth-seeded Atlanta (42-32). Dead ahead is a first-round showdown against the Hawks, Wednesday night’s opponent at Philips Arena.

So unlike last season, there is little for the Magic to push for down the stretch other than personal pride and a desire to hit the playoffs with a hot hand. Hard-driving Magic coach Stan Van Gundy doesn’t find the scenario ideal, but considering the state of the Magic’s injury-riddled roster right now, he said his team will make the best of the final two weeks of the regular season. [...]

The Magic should have [Jameer] Nelson and [Quentin] Richardson back for Wednesday’s game in Atlanta. Both were up and down off the Magic bench most of Monday night, cheering on Orlando’s effort and interacting with Madison Square Garden’s trash talkers in the crowd. Both could have played had the game been a playoff battle.

The case for [J.J.] Redick and [Chris] Duhon is trickier. Redick, Orlando’s best bench player all season, has missed nine games and could be looking at another two weeks of inactivity before returning, Van Gundy hinted. Duhon was unable to squeeze a towel at halftime Monday night and fears he might have suffered ligament damage in his thumb. Further tests should confirm or deny that by Wednesday’s tipoff.

With motivation in short supply down the stretch, the Magic will seek it out wherever they can find it. Wednesday it will come in the form of a first-round playoff preview against the Hawks. The Magic are just 1-2 against the Hawks this season, a direct contrast to last spring when Orlando swept Atlanta in the most lopsided four-game series in playoff history. [...]

As for Wednesday’s game, Howard said it’s never too early to send a message to a team that the Magic will most likely see in the first round of the playoffs.

Say hello to a preview of a first round matchup in the 2011 NBA Playoffs between the Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks. Sort of. Even though Quentin Richardson and Jameer Nelson are slated to return from their injuries later tonight, the Magic are still dealing with the absences of J.J. Redick and Chris Duhon. When Orlando is at full-strength, only Redick figures to see minutes in the postseason coming off the bench. As such, the Magic will get a decent idea of how they matchup with the Hawks even though they’re missing their top back-up wing player.

• 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.”

Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images

Via the Orlando Magic:

The Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played Monday, Mar. 21, through Sunday, Mar. 27. It marks the sixth time this season, which is an NBA-high (LeBron James-5; Russell Westbrook, Dwyane Wade-4), and the 17th time of his career that Howard has earned the league’s top weekly honor.

Howard led the Magic to a 3-0 week and helped push the team to its fifth consecutive victory, which is Orlando’s third longest winning streak of the season and is tied for the longest active winning streak in the Eastern Conference. Howard averaged 27.3 points (third in the East), an NBA-high 14.3 rebounds per game and shot .717 (27-of-38) from the field, which was also tops in the league. He also ranked first in the East in blocks (3.3 blkpg.) and second in steals per contest (2.3 stlpg.). Howard tallied double-doubles in each of the Magic’s three contests, extending his franchise record double-double streak to 30 games (Jan. 21-present) and led the team in scoring and rebounding in all three games.

In addition, on Mar. 21 at Cleveland, Howard recorded 28 points, 18 rebounds, four blocks, four assists and four steals. According to ESPN, he became the first player since Hakeem Olajuwon over 21 years ago to record those numbers in a single game (Olajuwon tallied 29 points, 18 rebounds, 11 blocks, 10 assists and five steals on Mar. 3, 1990 in a victory over Golden State).

Here is a recap of the week for Howard:

Dwight Howard, Orlando Magic
Mar. 21 @ Cleveland: Posted 28 points, 18 rebounds, four blocks, four assists and four steals in a 97-86 win over the Cavaliers.
Mar. 23 @ New York: Poured in 33 points to go along with 11 rebounds, three blocks and two assists in a 111-99 win at New York.
Mar. 25 vs. New Jersey: Tallied 21 points, 14 rebounds, three blocks and two steals in a 95-85 victory over the Nets.