Dwight Howard is the most dominant big man in the NBA, period! Howard dominates on both sides of the court and he’s the biggest reason for the Magic domination this season. Howard has played in 17 games this season and he has averaged 37.8 minutes, 23.5 points, 14.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2.7 blocks per game. Look for Howard to play at this level all season long because of the Magic’s wide array of outside shooters that stretch the opposing defenses.

Jameer Nelson has changed his game as he’s more pass-first and it has made the Magic a really deadly team on offense. Nelson has played in 17 games this season and he’s averaged 30.5 minutes, 12.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He also has shot really well from both the floor (47.5%) and the free throw line (80%) so far this season. Look for Nelson could keep up the good work as he has a lot of good shooters to get the basketball to….not to mention Dwight Howard down low.

The Magic have traded Trevor Ariza to the Lakers for Maurice Evans and Brian Cook. Evans has played 7 games this season (0 starts) and he has averaged 13.7 minutes, 4.4 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. Evans has now played in 238 games (22 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 17.8 minutes, 6.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Cook is a solid long range shooter off of the bench for the Magic. He has played in 6 games (2 starts) this season and he has averaged 11.7 minutes, 2.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. He has now played in 259 games (74 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 16.0 minutes, 6.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. The Magic also had to release Bo Outlaw to make room on the roster for the two players they acquired from the Lakers. Outlaw’s NBA career could be over at his advanced age. Outlaw has now played in 914 games (352 starts) and he has averaged 5.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.3 blocked shots per game.

The Magic missed a lot of free throws at the end of regulation to give the Cavs a chance to send the game into OT last night. But with a little more than 5 seconds left in the overtime period the Cavs fouled Dwight Howard who normally isn’t a good free throw shooter….but he walked to the line and hit both shots to give them a 1-point lead. That set up the biggest play of the game when Hedo Turkoglu tied up LeBron James on a drive to the basket to set up a jump ball with less than a second left and the Cavs didn’t get a shot off. Dwight Howard had an amazing game as he scored 35 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, dished out 2 assists and blocked 4 shots. Jameer Nelson had one of his best games in the NBA as he scored 21 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and dished out 11 assists. Rashard Lewis also had a solid game with 20 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. The Magic are now 7-2 on the season with this win.

The Magic won this game by holding the Sonics to 34.4% shooting from the floor and they also outrebounded the Sonics 58-44. Rashard Lewis led the way for the Magic against his old team with 22 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Hedo Turkoglu also had a good game with 17 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Keith Bogans pitched in with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. The Magic are now 6-2 on the season.