Dwight Howard powers the Magic over the Wizards Wall

The Magic overcame a slow start on Wednesday night at the Amway Center and crushed the sans Rashard Lewis, Washington Wizards by a score of 101-76.  The game was actually tied after the first quarter and the Magic led by only 9 at halftime, but Orlando pushed the lead from 9 to 25 in under 5 minutes in the second half.

As well as the Magic played in the second half, this game was more about the ineptitude of the Wizards.  Outside of John Wall, who had a Wizards high 27, the Wizards players shot 19-66 from the field. More woeful Wizards stats: only 3 assists from their starters, 3-13 from three-point distance, and another road loss that puts their road record at 1-26.  Not even the #screamingmagicgirls could help the Wizards tonight.

Coach Flip Saunders decided to play the excuse game afterwards and blame the poor showing on injuries:

“We’re hurt. Rashard’s not playing. Nick (Young) wasn’t playing. We had a lot of guys that were hurt so it was tough to judge.”

Well Coach, I don’t think Rashard Lewis or Nick Young could have guarded Dwight Howard who absolutely had his way with JaVale McGee.  Dwight shot 12-15 from the field, including 8-11 from the line, to finish with 32 points.  It was the 10th game this season that Dwight scored 30+ points.  Oh yea, he also could have easily had 40 if he would have played more than 28 minutes.  Dwight has been on a tear lately and is making a strong MVP push, other teams should be very weary of the Magic heading into the last third of the season.  Stan Van Gundy has made adjustments to make sure that he gets the proper amount of touches and Dwight is making sure that he converts his chances.

Heading into the All-Star break, Stan Van Gundy said that he is very optimistic as to where the team stands.  Of course, winning four of the last five helps.

You can check out Dwight Howard in the All-Star game on Sunday and the Magic do not return until next Wednesday against the Sacramento Kings.

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