The Magic have signed 23-year old point guard Ishmael Smith to a 1-year deal.  Smith played in 6 games (1 start) earlier this year for the Golden State Warriors and he averaged 10.5 minutes, 4.5 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.  He has now played in 49 games (4 starts) in his first two years in the NBA and he is averaging 10.3 minutes, 2.6 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.  Smith will backup Chris Duhon until Jameer Nelson is ready to return to action.

The Magic have waived 33-year old shooting guard Larry Hughes.  Hughes played in 9 games (0 starts) for the Magic this year and he averaged 12.7 minutes, 1.3 points, 0.6 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.  He also only shot 5 of 22 (22.7%) from the floor last season and that was pathetic.  Hughes has now played in 727 games (509 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 30.8 minutes, 14.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game.  Hughes’ NBA career is quite possibly at the end of the line.

The Orlando Magic overcame getting outrebounded 45-37 last night to hold off a pesky Wizards’ team.  Ryan Anderson (23 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal) and Dwight Howard (23 points, 18 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals) led the way for the Magic last night.  J.J. Redick (21 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists) and Hedu Turkoglu (16 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal) also pitched in with solid games for the Magic last night.  The Magic are now 13-9 on the year.

The Magic only shot 33.3% from the floor last night as even Dwight Howard was off with his shooting.  Howard led the way for the Magic last night with 17 points, 11 rebounds, 1 steal and 2 blocked shots, but, he only shot 6 of 17 from the floor and 5 of 13 from the free throw line.  Ryan Anderson was the only other Magic player that came to play as he finished up with 14 points and an amazing 20 rebounds.  J.J. Redick only shot 3 of 13 from the floor but he still finished up with 10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.  The Magic are now 12-9 on the year.

The Orlando Magic are going to be without 29-year old point guard Jameer Nelson for at least the next week due to a concussion.  Nelson has played in 18 games (all starts) so far this year for the Magic and he is averaging 28.8 minutes, 8.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game on only 38.7% shooting from the floor.  He will be replaced in the starting lineup by 29-year old Chris Duhon.  Duhon has played in 20 games (2 starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 19.5 minutes, 3.8 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.  Duhon is hitting 46.7% from three point range (14 of 30) so far this year and that is outstanding.  Duhon might be able to do a decent job while Nelson is out of action.

26-year old center Dwight Howard has to be getting angry with the rest of his teammates.  The Magic have lost four of their last five games and they are getting outscored 92.0 to 78.6 in those games.  Howard is doing his part as he has averaged 20.0 points, 13.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocked shots in his last five games.   Howard has played in 20 games (all starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 37.4 minutes, 20.2 points, 15.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.1 blocked shots per game.  The bad thing for the Magic is that they are 12-8 on the year and the team is built around Dwight Howard.  Howard allows a lot of guys  to get open shots as defenses try to stop him.  So if the Magic decide to deal Howard, I think they are going to go downhill no matter what they get back for him.  The front office is going to have a very difficult decision when dealing with the Dwight Howard situation, as he is much more than the Magic’s all-time leading scorer.

The Magic were outscored 58-34 last night and it doomed them at home.  Dwight Howard did his part as he led the way for the Magic with 24 points, 13 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 blocked shots.  Chris Duhon (14 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals in 33 minutes) and Jason Richardson (13 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot) also had decent games last night for the Magic.  Ryan Anderson pitched in with 11 points, 2 rebounds and 1 blocked shot in this game.  The Magic are now 12-8 on the year.

The Magic, with the exception of Dwight Howard, didn’t show up last night in New Orleans and they paid for it.  The Magic only shot 39.3% from the floor and they didn’t play much D as the Hornets shot 50.6% from the floor.  The Hornets outrebounded the Magic 43-36, which also hurt.  Dwight Howard led the way for the Magic in this game with 28 points, 16 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot.  J.J. Redick (9 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal) and Chris Duhon (6 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists) also pitched in for the Magic in this game.  The Magic are now 12-7 on the year.

32-year old small forward Hedo Turkoglu is off to a good start for the Magic so far this year.  He has played in 16 games (all starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 31.3 minutes, 13.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game.  Turkoglu is shooting 38 of 81 (46.9%) from three point range so far this year and that is outstanding.  Turkoglu helps keep everyone involved in the offense as he is like having a second point guard on the court and that is a good thing.

The Magic melted down in Orlando last night as they blew a 27-point lead to lose again to the Celtics.  The Magic only shot 38% from the floor and they were outscored 54-25 in the second half last night, which helps explain the loss.  Dwight Howard led the way for the Magic with 16 points, 16 rebounds and 1 blocked shot last night.  Jason Richardson (13 points and 3 steals), Ryan Anderson (12 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 blocked shot), Jameer Nelson (11 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal) and Hedo Turkoglu (10 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals) also pitched in for the Magic.  The Magic are now 12-6 on the year.