Heat-Magic Preview

By MATT BECKER
Posted Mar 12 2012 5:59PM

The Orlando Magic and Miami Heat are set to square off twice in a six-day stretch.

The second matchup, however, could have a very different look.

With the trade deadline looming, Tuesday's meeting between these Eastern Conference powers could be Dwight Howard's final home game with the Magic.

While Linsanity and the Chris Paul-Blake Griffin pairing in Los Angeles have made plenty of headlines, the season's most drawn-out story has been Howard's demand for a trade from Orlando (27-15). The six-time All-Star center made his official trade request in December and with just days to go before Thursday's trade deadline, there's little idea how this saga will end.

"Thursday, he'll either be here or he won't," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said after Sunday's 107-94 win over Indiana. "There's closure, I guess, if he goes. If he stays, it just starts all over again."

Despite wanting to play elsewhere, Howard, who can opt out of his current contract in July, has led the Magic to the East's third-best record. He had 30 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and four steals against the Pacers, Orlando's fourth victory in five games.

The Magic prevailed despite missing Hedo Turkoglu (one-game suspension) and Jason Richardson (sprained left ankle). Richardson, who has averaged 12.2 points in 33 starts, is listed as day-to-day.

After Sunday's game, Howard was asked if he was looking forward to the trade deadline.

"I'm looking forward to the next game that we have," said the three-time reigning defensive player of the year, who averages a team-high 21.1 points and a league-best 15.0 rebounds. "That's the only thing on my mind right now."

Orlando's final two games before the deadline are against Southeast Division-leading Miami (31-9) and at Southwest-leading San Antonio on Wednesday night.

Howard had one of his best games of the season in a 102-89 home win over the Heat on Feb. 8, finishing with 25 points and 24 rebounds. Ryan Anderson had 27 points and 11 boards to help the Magic improve to 9-2 against the Heat in Orlando since 2006-07.

LeBron James had one of his worst showings in that meeting, finishing with 17 points - one better than his season low - on 5-of-15 shooting.

Eleven days later in Miami, James had 25 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists and Wade scored 27 to lead the Heat to a 90-78 win over the Magic. Howard had 12 points and 15 rebounds as Orlando's starters combined for 46 points on 37.2 percent shooting.

The Heat, winners of 12 of 14 since last month's loss to the Magic, are opening a difficult portion of their schedule in Orlando. After this game, they'll visit Central-leading Chicago on Wednesday and Atlantic-leading Philadelphia on Friday before returning home to face what could be a different-looking Magic team on Sunday.

The Heat begin this stretch feeling good after a 93-91 overtime win over Indiana on Saturday. James scored his team's last eight points of regulation - including a game-tying 3-pointer with 10 seconds to go - and Wade hit a jump shot with 0.1 seconds left in the extra session to lift Miami to a third straight victory.

"Who's going to take the last shot? Whoever's open," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "And that's the point. We have a lot of weapons. We're at our best when you're not necessarily sure where that shot is coming from."

Wade finished with 28 points against the Pacers, while James scored 27. The Heat, however, lost reserve swingman Mike Miller with a sprained left ankle and he isn't expected to make the trip.

Magic beat Heat, Howard wants to finish season

By KYLE HIGHTOWER
Posted Mar 14 2012 1:45AM

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) First, the Orlando Magic earned one of their biggest victories of the season. Then Dwight Howard turned the tables on what has been the biggest player soap opera of this NBA regular season.

Minutes after the Magic came back for a thrilling 104-98 overtime victory over the Miami Heat on Tuesday night, Howard took back his preseason trade request and said he's told team officials that he wants to stay with the team for the remainder of the season.

"Well, I told those guys, I've been telling them for the past two or three weeks now that I want to stay and finish the season," Howard said.

"I told them I feel we have a great opportunity to win and I told them that I want to be here and I want to bring a championship here. I told them they've got to give me that chance. They didn't trade me at the beginning of the season and I told them I'd go out and play as hard as I could every night to put our team in a position to win."

Howard had 24 points and 25 rebounds, and Jameer Nelson scored 25 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter and overtime, but the story was what happened after the final buzzer.

Howard said in the preseason that he wanted to be traded, potentially ending a seven-year relationship for the only franchise the 26-year-old, three-time Defensive Player of the Year has known. He has the option of terminating his current contract and becoming a free agent in July.

Now those plans appear to be off for now, on a night when he could have conceivably played his final home game in a Magic jersey.

"We're third in the East and playing great basketball," Howard said. "I don't want to see that slip away. We have to take a chance and I think we have a great chance to surprise a lot of people by winning."

There's still a chance the Magic could deal him before Thursday's deadline, of course, but that would appear unlikely. Now it would seem the onus would shift now to the Magic to bring in players to ensure he won't leave anyway in a few months.

Howard said his decision has been in the works for a while.

"We've been talking for a while," he said. "I told them that I want to finish this season out and give our team and our fans some hope for the future. I feel they have to roll their dice. It might be tough, but I feel like we have a great opportunity. They've got to roll it."

Howard made sure it was a memorable night for the fan base that seemed ready to say goodbye to him.

It was the eighth 20-20 game of the season for Howard and 40th of his career. It helped the Magic overcome a 14-point, first-half deficit to win their third straight and fifth in six games.

Dwyane Wade scored 28 points and Chris Bosh 23 for the Heat, who had a three-game winning streak snapped. LeBron James added 19 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.

The Heat visit Chicago on Wednesday in a matchup of the East's top teams. Orlando goes to San Antonio for its final game before the trade deadline.

Even Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy acknowledged before the game that all the Howard drama had to be on his players' minds. He shrugged off an ESPN.com report from earlier in the day that Howard had been told by team officials he could decide the fate of Van Gundy and general manager Otis Smith if he signed a contract extension.

"If anybody thinks I care about that, I really don't give a damn about being fired," Van Gundy said. "That doesn't concern me in the least. ... If they want to fire me to please somebody, fire me."

He went as far as to say the most disappointing thing about the season-long Howard speculation is that his team's actual game performances have been secondary. After Tuesday's nail-nibbling win, Van Gundy wasn't in the mood to discuss anything more about what could happen the next two days.

"For tonight we're actually going to give a (expletive) about the game," he said.

Howard scored the first basket of the extra frame and Orlando took a 100-96 lead on Nelson's running layup. Following an offensive foul on Mario Chalmers, Nelson scored again on a twisting layup in the lane to increase it to six with under a minute left.

Wade trimmed it back to four and Howard missed a pair of free throws on the Magic's next possession to give the Heat hope with 26 seconds to play.

Wade missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key and Howard was fouled again. He missed two more free throws, but James also came up empty on a 3-point try.

"They executed and made more plays in the overtime," James said. "We're not going to hang our heads over this one. We played hard."

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra had the same assessment.

"Some second chances, some big, big plays there in the second half," he said. "In the third quarter we didn't play our best basketball (and) gave them life, gave them an opportunity to get back in the game, get some confidence and they took full advantage of that."

Notes: The Magic played without starting G Jason Richardson (sprained left ankle for the second consecutive game. It was the ninth game he's missed this season. Reserves Von Wafer and Earl Clark also were unavailable. ...Heat F Mike Miller also missed Tuesday's game with a sprained left ankle.

Notebook: Magic 104, Heat 98

Posted Tuesday March 13, 2012 11:38PM

By Dick Scanlon, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Jameer Nelson scored 12 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, and the Orlando Magic overcame 24 turnovers and a 20-0 Miami run to beat the Heat, 104-98. Dwyane Wade scored a game-high 28 points for Miami, scoring all four of the Heat points in the overtime period. Dwight Howard finished with 24 points and 25 rebounds in what may have been his final home game for the Magic with the NBA trade deadline looming Thursday.

QUOTABLE: "I told (the Magic) that I want to finish this season out and give our team and our fans some hope for the future. I feel they have to roll their dice. It might be tough, but I feel like we have a great opportunity. They've got to roll it."
-- Howard, withdrawing his trade request.

QUOTABLE II: "For tonight, we're actually going to give a ---- about the game!"
-- Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, refusing to comment on trade rumors involving Howard.

THE STAT: The Heat did not shoot a free throw in the second half or overtime.

TURNING POINT: The Heat led by nine past the midway point of the third quarter when Ryan Anderson tipped in his own miss, and after LeBron James and Wade missed jumpers for Miami, Nelson made a long 3-pointer. The Magic were back in the game to stay.

HOT: The 6-foot Nelson kept getting to the basket late in the game.

QUOTABLE III: "(Nelson) created a lot of their opportunities, not only just making his shots but breaking down the defense, getting into the paint repeatedly and doing it in different ways. That was probably the biggest back-breaker, his ability to break us down."
-- Heat coach Eric Spoelstra.

NOT: If Shane Battier had made just one of three wide-open shots late in the fourth quarter, the Magic would not have made it into overtime. He missed all four of his 3-point shots.

NOT AGAIN: Miami shot shot 2-for-11 in overtime, scoring on two Wade layups.

GOOD MOVE: Van Gundy put athletic, high-energy rookie DeAndre Liggins on Wade in an attempt to slow down the Heat star late in the first half.

BAD MOVE: James Jones went for a Quentin Richardson head fake and fouled the Magic shooter, opening the fourth quarter with a big three-point play.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: James somehow flirted with a triple double (19 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists) while being a non-factor for most of the game.

NOTABLE: Howard's 20/20 was his eighth of the season and 40th of his career. ... Miami leads the all-time intrastate series, 46-44, but Orlando has won six of the last nine. ... After losing by 16 at Charlotte, the Magic have bounced back with wins against Chicago, Indiana and Miami. ... Howard was credited with two blocks, but he actually got pieces of shots by James and Udonis Haslem that went in the basket anyway.

UP NEXT: For the Heat, Wednesday @ Chicago, Friday @ Philadelphia, Sunday vs. Orlando. For the Magic, Wednesday @ San Antonio, Friday vs. New Jersey, Sunday @ Miami.

• Heat: Miller
• Magic: Richardson, Wafer

• Heat: --
• Magic: Richardson

• Lead Changes: 17
• Times Tied: 11

• Arena: Amway Center, Orlando, FL
• Officials: #14 Ed Malloy, #75 Eric Dalen, #60 James Williams
• Attendance: 18879
• Duration: 2:44