Orlando Magic Blog – Page 69 – NBA Blog

Dwight Howard suspended for Game 6 due to elbowing Dalembert

Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard has been suspended one game without pay for elbowing Philadelphia 76ers center Samuel Dalembert in the head, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred with 9:15 remaining in the first period of Orlando’s 91-78 victory over the 76ers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Amway Arena last night.

Howard will serve his suspension Wednesday night (April 30) when the Magic faces the 76ers in Game 6 at Wachovia Center.

Here is a video of the Dwight Howard elbow of Salembert:

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Howard powers Magic to 3-2 series lead over 76ers

The AP reports: Dwight Howard did so much damage to the Philadelphia 76ers he set off a coaching feud. Howard had 24 points and a career playoff-high 24 rebounds, a dominating performance that powered the Magic to a 91-78 victory over the Sixers on Tuesday night and gave Orlando a 3-2 series lead. Afterward, Philadelphia coach Tony DiLeo said Howard should have been called for 3 seconds in the lane several times and asked the league to look into an elbow from Howard on Samuel Dalembert… Rashard Lewis snapped out of his playoff slump with a series-high 24 points, and Rafer Alston scored 14 for the Magic. But it was Howard’s fourth career playoff game with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds that carried the Magic. Andre Iguodala scored 26 points and led a second-half charge that fizzled fast, and Andre Miller added 17 points for Philadelphia.

Magic even 76ers series on Turkoglu 3-pointer

The AP reports: Hedo Turkoglu nailed a 3-pointer over Thaddeus Young with 1.1 seconds left to lift the Orlando Magic to an 84-81 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday, evening their Eastern Conference first-round series at two games apiece… Dwight Howard had 18 points and 18 rebounds, and every Magic starter scored in double figures. Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis each added 17 points. Andre Miller led the Sixers with 17 and Young had 15… After a hard-fought, physical first half that ended in a 36-all tie, the Magic came out firing in the third quarter. Orlando hit its first seven shots and briefly pulled away with a 10-0 run early in the quarter.

Iguodala scores 29, Sixers beat Magic 96-94

The AP reports: Thaddeus Young’s driving layup with 2 seconds left lifted Philadelphia to a 96-94 victory over the Orlando Magic on Friday night, giving the 76ers a surprising 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series… Dwight Howard had 36 points and 11 rebounds for the Magic, who won 59 games during the regular season. Andre Iguodala led the Sixers with 29 points, though he missed two free throws in the final minute. Andre Miller added 24 and Young had six… Courtney Lee, coming off a career-best, 24-point effort in Game 2, didn’t score until 3:25 remained in the first half. The rookie finished with six. Turkoglu, still slowed by a left ankle sprain, had 11 on 2-for-12 shooting. He struggled against Iguodala on the defensive end.

Magic hold off Sixers in Game 2 to even series

The AP reports: Rookie Courtney Lee had a career-high 24 points, Hedo Turkoglu added 16 and the Magic nearly blew another 18-point lead before beating Philadelphia 96-87 on Wednesday night to even the series at a game apiece. Dwight Howard had 11 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out, and Rashard Lewis made a pair of big jumpers in the final minutes to help Orlando get its fourth win in five chances against Philadelphia this season… Andre Miller had 30 points, and Andre Iguodala scored 20 of his 21 points in the second half for the Sixers, who closed the gap to five points and almost erased the same deficit they faced in the series opener. Game 3 is Friday in Philadelphia.

InsideHoops.com notes: Both teams shot OK from the field, but fairly badly from three-point range… Orlando got 30 free throws, hitting 22, while the Sixers were 12-of-18… The Magic controlled the boards, but dished just 14 assists in the game… The Magic blocked 7 shots (Dwight Howard 4), the Sixers only two… All five Magic starters scored in double-figures, plus Anthony Johnson had 11 off the bench… The Sixers got 30 points from Andre Miller, 21 from Andre Iguodala and 20 from Thaddeus Young, but the next highest scorer was Marreese Speights with five.

Dwight Howard named Defensive Player of Year

Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic is the recipient of the 2008-09 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, the NBA announced today.

The 6-11 center led the NBA in rebounds and blocks, averaging 13.8 boards and 2.92 blocks. He also averaged 20.6 points on .572 shooting from the floor. Howard recorded nine 20-point/20-rebound games while leading the team in scoring 39 times and in rebounds on 69 occasions.

Howard, a three-time NBA All-Star, helped the Magic to its second consecutive Southeast Division title (59-23), including a 32-9 record at home. The Magic held opponents under 100 points 54 times this season — compiling a 43-11 record — including a season-low 68 points allowed by New Orleans on Dec. 25. Orlando allowed 94.4 ppg (7,737 points), which ranked sixth in the NBA, and overall the team was in the NBA’s top 10 in seven defensive categories.

Howard became the fifth player in NBA history to finish the season leading the league in rebounding and blocks (1973-74 was the first season blocks were kept as an official statistic). The select group includes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (L.A. Lakers, 1975-76), Bill Walton (Portland Trail Blazers, 1976-77), Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston, 1989-90) and Ben Wallace (Detroit, 2001-02).

Howard received 542 points, including 105 first-place votes, from a panel of 119 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Cleveland’s LeBron James finished second with 148 points and Miami’s Dwyane Wade finished third with 90 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.

Finishing fourth was Shane Battier, fifth was Ron Artest, sixth was Chris Paul, seventh was Kobe Bryant, eighth was Kevin Garnett, ninth was Chris Andersen and 10th was Rajon Rondo.

Mike Brown named Coach of Year

Cleveland’s Mike Brown is the recipient of the Red Auerbach Trophy as the 2008-09 NBA Coach of the Year, the NBA announced today.

Brown totaled 355 points, including 55 first-place votes, from a panel of 122 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Coaches were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

In his fourth season at the helm in Cleveland, Brown guided the Cavaliers to a franchise- and NBA-best 66-16 (.805) season, marking only the 12th time an NBA team has won at least 66 games. Cleveland started the season with a franchise-best 23-straight wins at Quicken Loans Arena and finished with the best home record in the league at 39-2. Cleveland is the sixth team in NBA history to record 39 home wins and the first to do so since the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls. The Cavaliers’ 21-game improvement over last year’s 45-37 record tied the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers for the second biggest improvement all-time among teams with at least 45 wins in the previous season.

Brown was named NBA Coach of the Month for December, February and March. At the All-Star break, Cleveland owned the highest winning percentage in the Eastern Conference (36-9, .800), earning Brown the spot as head coach for the East in Phoenix. It was Brown’s first appearance as an All-Star head coach and the second in franchise history (Lenny Wilkens, 1989).

Brown led the Cavaliers to at least 45 wins in each of his first three campaigns, marking only the second time Cleveland won that many games in three consecutive seasons (1991-92 to 1993-94). With a combined regular season record of 211-117 (.643) in four seasons, Brown has the highest winning percentage of any head coach in franchise history. In each of his first three seasons in Cleveland, Brown has led the Cavaliers to the playoffs, amassing a franchise-best 26-20 (.565) postseason record. In 2007, he led Cleveland to its first trip to The Finals.

Brown joined the Cavaliers after two seasons as associate head coach for the Indiana Pacers. Prior to that, Brown served as assistant coach for three seasons in San Antonio, helping guide the Spurs to the 2003 NBA championship. Brown began his coaching career with the Washington Wizards, where he spent two seasons as an assistant coach under Bernie Bickerstaff.

The Coach of the Year Award is named after legendary coach and Hall of Famer Red Auerbach who guided the Celtics to nine NBA Championships. In 1996, Auerbach was honored as one of the Top 10 Coaches in NBA History as the NBA celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Houston coach Rick Adelman finished second in the voting with 13 first-place votes and 151 total points.

Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy finished third with 13 first-place votes and 150 total points.

Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan finished fourth with 15 first-place votes and 127 total points.

Denver Nuggets coach George Karl finished fifth with 11 first-place votes and 117 total points.

The next five coaches to receive some votes were Jerry Sloan, Erik Spoelstra, Mike Woodson, Phil Jackson and Doc Rivers.

Donyell Marshall can still shoot sometimes

Philadelphia 76ers forward Donyell Marshall is about 83 years old, and most fans forgot he even existed. But he stepped up nicely Sunday.

The Philadelphia Daily News (Marcus Hayes) reports: Donyell Marshall’s 11 points in the first 11 minutes of the fourth quarter helped the Sixers complete a comeback from an 18-point deficit to win, 100-98, in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Magic. He entered facing a 14-point hole. He hit three of four three-pointers. He made it happen. He had played as many minutes five times this season, most recently 10 games ago. He looked fresh. “He turned the game around,” coach Tony DiLeo said. “He spread the floor for us offensively. Guys could not help as much. I am not surprised. He’s a professional. He’s always ready to play.”

Iguodala jumper helps Sixers stun Magic in game 1

The AP reports: Andre Iguodala made a 22-foot jumper with 2.2 seconds remaining, and the Sixers rallied from an 18-point deficit to beat Orlando 100-98 in Game 1 of their opening-round playoff series Sunday… Iguodala had 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, and Louis Williams scored 18 to help the Sixers beat the Magic for the first time in four tries this season—and when it mattered most. Hedo Turkoglu’s fadeaway 3-pointer missed at the buzzer, and Magic fans stood in disbelief before filing out quietly… Dwight Howard had a career playoff-high 31 points and 16 rebounds, and rookie Courtney Lee scored 18 for the Magic. It was the biggest lead the Magic blew all season, topping the loss on Oct. 31 to Memphis when they were ahead by 15 points. Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is Wednesday night in Orlando.

InsideHoops.com notes: This game was pretty even. The Sixers were better from outside, but rebounds, assists, turnovers, steals, blocks and fouls were all extremely close… Willie Green and Sam Dalembert only played 17 minutes each… Lou Williams shot 7-of-11 for 18 points off the bench… Donyell Marshall, who many fans forgot existed, came off Philly’s bench to shoot 4-of-5, including 3-of-4 three-pointers, for 11 points in just 11 minutes.

Anthony Johnson dunks in game 1

Sunday afternoon the Orlando Magic are hosting the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 1 of the 2009 NBA playoffs round 1.

And at the very end of the first quarter, Magic guard Anthony Johnson, who is about 93 years old, saw an opening, drove right down the middle of the paint and threw down an enthusiastic one-handed slam. And he did it despite big, tall, shot-blocker Theo Ratliff running over to help.

Magic bench player Marcin Gortat was so excited, he ran a few feet onto the court in celebration, until coach Stan Van Gundy grabbed and pulled him away from a potential technical foul situation.