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STAT SHEET STUFFER
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Maybe the average NBA fan could get Dwight Howard mixed up with Josh or Juwan Howard for obvious reasons before this season. That shouldn't be a problem any longer for the Magic's star forward. D. Howard continued his stellar season with another complete performance in a 102-86 win at Philadelphia, tallying 15 points, 19 rebounds, five assists and four blocks. Howard, who has 50 double-doubles this season, repeatedly turned away Allen Iverson and helped limit the Sixers' star to 17 points on 4-of-19 from the field. "I knew that I had to come out and get a presence," Howard said. "I was trying to block shots, trying to rebound, and make A.I. and the other guys take bad shots."
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RICK KAMLA'S FANTASY TAKE
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Tim Duncan scored a season-low six points against the Blazers, and he's averaging a career-low 18.8 per game this season, but the Spurs won and T.D. supplemented the points with seven rebounds, six assists, two blocks and a steal. Hello, he is a two-time MVP -- he does more than score.
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D-LEAGUE STAR OF THE NIGHT
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The 7-foot-3 Peter Ramos played as big as his size in Roanoke's 105-103 win over the Florida Flame. The Puerto Rico native, on assignment from the Washington Wizards, scored 12 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, shot 8-of-11 from the field and grabbed 10 rebounds. Ramos was responsible for five of his team's final seven points as the Dazzle assumed sole possession of second place in the D-League standings.
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GAME OF THE NIGHT
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It may not have been one for the ages, but the Pistons and Pacers enaged in the night's most competitive game, resulting in a 75-72 Pistons' victory and their league-leading 55th win. Detroit built a 13-point fourth-quarter lead before the Pacers came alive. A 3-pointer by rookie Danny Granger and two free throws each from Jermaine O'Neal and Jamaal Tinsley drew Indiana within 74-72 with 27 seconds remaining. After Ben Wallace split a pair of foul shots with four seconds to play, Granger tried to a launch a potential game-tying trey, but Wallace, proud owner of three Defensive Player of the Year Awards, sealed the win with a lunging block. "I was able to get the block and we got the win, but it never should have come down to that," said Wallace. "We played terrible down the stretch."
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QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
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"Forty wins before the month of April feels good. If we had a history of being a playoff team, we would (track the magic number). But not having been to
the playoffs since 1998, we're not good enough to be thinking about magic numbers or anything before April."
-- Cleveland coach Mike Brown, whose team rode 19 fourth-quarter points from LeBron James to its fourth straight win, 94-82 over visiting Boston. The Cavaliers are battling for fourth place in the East and homecourt advantage in the opening round.
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STORYLINES OF THE NIGHT
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 1. This Reggie is Mr. March
One month may not be enough time to determine which of the four teams involved in a nine-player transaction just prior to the trade deadline has benefitted the most. Despite that, the Denver Nuggets certainly seem like the early favorite. Since acquiring Reggie Evans (from Seattle) and Ruben Patterson (from Portland) on Feb. 23, the Nuggets are 11-4 and are coasting to the Northwest Division title. No question that Evans has been the steal of the deal. He scored 16 of his career-high 22 points in the first half and grabbed nine rebounds in Denver's 117-104 home win over Seattle after totaling 26 boards in the previous two games. Since arriving in the Mile High City, Evans has averaged 9.1 caroms in 14 games off the bench. Adding Evans' board work to Carmelo Anthony's torrid scoring makes the Nuggets a very formidable postseason opponent. "It wasn't weird. I just approached it like practice," Evans said about facing his former team. "I was cool, calm and collected. It was all just fun to me, that's about it."
 2. Feelin' The Brotherly Love
Maybe's it's the cheesesteaks, or possibly all that American history, but whatever it is, the Magic probably wouldn't mind a few more visits to Philadelphia. Orlando ended a franchise-record 16-game road losing streak with a 102-86 victory in Philly, also the site of their last win away from home, a 119-115 overtime triumph on Jan. 26. With their seventh road win of the season, the Magic moved ahead of Charlotte, Portland and the Knicks, who each have six wins away from home. Jameer Nelson led the way with 19 points and seven assists, while the Magic bench contributed 50 points, including 16 from Carlos Arroyo. "Just kidding, but I think we need to ask the league if we can
switch all of our away games to here," Magic forward Dwight Howard said. "It feels good. I'm happy that we finally got a win. We started a little slow, but we kept playing and that's what we needed."
 3. Cue Kool and the Gang
Chris Bosh became the latest player this month to celebrate a birthday with an impressive performance. The All-Star played a key role in Toronto's 97-77 rout of Minnesota, collecting 17 points and 15 rebounds on his 22nd birthday. "I haven't won on my birthday since college, so it's good to play hard and get a win by double figures," said the third-year Raptor. Bosh's outing came one day after Jason Kidd blew out the candles on No. 33 by totaling 17 points, nine assists and six boards in New Jersey's 86-82 victory over the Wolves. This month's best birthday outing belongs to Shaquille O'Neal, who celebrated his 34th by scoring all eight of his team's points in overtime en route to a season-high 35 in Miami's 106-105 triumph over Charlotte on March 6.
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ROOKIE WATCH
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What has gotten into Raymond Felton? After scoring in double digits eight times in his first 33 games, the former Tar Heel has done so in 29 of his last 36 contests. He scored 23 and matched a season best with four 3-pointers in Charlotte's 114-93 loss at Miami on Friday. More impressive is Felton's play in the past three games during which he's averaged 23.0 points and 8.7 assists.
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COOL/CLUTCH PERFORMANCE
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Chalk up another point for King James as he continues to silence critics who took shots at him for failing to deliver late in games earlier this season. After hitting the game-winning shot with less than a second remaining in OT in a win over Charlotte on Wednesday, LeBron scored 19 of his 36 in the fourth quarter, leading the Cavaliers to their fourth straight victory, 94-82 over Boston. James also had seven rebounds and eight assists, one game after he recorded his fifth triple-double of the season and ninth of his career. "I wanted to try and put them away," said James, whose 19
fourth-quarter points were his best in any period this season.
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SIXTH MAN OF THE NIGHT
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There may have been some Eastern Conference teams salivating when they saw Alonzo Mourning go down with a calf injury in Wednesday's loss at Detroit, considering how well the big man has played this season backing up Shaq. 'Zo, though, is only expected to miss two to four weeks and the extra rest may even prove beneficial for the 13-year veteran. In Mourning's absence, Michael Doleac will serve as O'Neal's primary backup. While he plays a very different game than Mourning and isn't an intimidating presence, Doleac proved his worth with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting and four boards in a 114-93 win over Charlotte.
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SCOREBOARD: March 24, 2006 |
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