Dwight Howard had a great night on Saturday after helping Orlando Magic score a victory against their Eastern Conference rivals, Philadelphia. The 88-82 winning score put an end to a streak of five losses, thus helping all players regain their self-esteem.
Dwight Howard was the most active player on the field during this weekend’s game with the Philadelphia. He recorded 20 points and 22 rebounds which enabled the team to score their first victory after five losing games. Howard’s performance throughout the competition was all the more impressive as he was suffering from back spasms from a previous injury. In the last quarter of the game, he brought the victory on his team’s side by scoring 11 points.
Coach Van Gundy was very pleased with his team’s performance. He told reporters that this was the first time this year when he actually felt proud of his players. He then added that the team played good games in the past, too, but this was the first time when they fought for the victory.
Howard’s reputation was positively influenced by this weekend’s victory. Last Thursday, when the team played against New York, Howard scored only eight points, thus enabling Magic’s rivals to win the match. The loss came at a time when Howard and Gundy were not getting along very well because of a rumor saying that the All-star player wanted the coach’s dismissal. The rumor was later on denied by Howard and the relationship between the two seems to be back on the track again.
Magic’s Glen Davis is definitely the player with the best results so far. According to Gundy, Davis performed well during the last four games, but he had wonderful results on Saturday. He scored 23 points and 12 rebounds because he managed to focus on his game and avoid other distractions, in Gundy’s opinion.
Due to the recent victory, the sixth-place Orlando is now three and a half games ahead of Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference competition. Nevertheless, Philadelphia continues to be one of the most fearsome teams as they are hot on the heels of the Boston leaders.
