25-year old center Dwight Howard is doing more than his part for the Orlando Magic lately.  Howard has played in 5 games in February (the Magic are 3-2) in which he is averaging 41.2 minutes, 23.8 points, 16.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game.  He has now played in 52 games (all starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 36.7 minutes, 22.5 points, 13.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.1 blocked shots per game.  Howard is by far the best center in the NBA, without a doubt, but the Magic won’t get back to the NBA Finals any time soon unless some other players start stepping up.  The big trade the Magic made with the Suns has not helped them at all so far.

22-year old forward Ryan Anderson has really stepped up in January for the Magic.  He has played in 14 games in January so far and he is averaging 24.4 minutes, 14.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game.  Anderson is also hitting 42.9% from three point range this month hitting 42 of 98 shots from that range.  Anderson has now played in 29 games (4 starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 18.9 minutes, 10.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.  I see no reason on God’s Green Earth to cut Ryan Anderson’s P.T. any time soon as he has been on fire.

25-year old power forward Brandon Bass helped push Rashard Lewis out of town by stepping up.  Bass has played in 14 games so far this December and he is averaging 28.4 minutes, 13.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.  He is shooting 54.7% from the floor this month and he is also hitting 79.5% from the free throw line!  Bass has now played in 31 games (8 starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 23.8 minutes, 11.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.  Bass is shooting 52.9% from the floor and 83.7% from the free throw line so far this year.  Bass gives Dwight Howard support down low on the boards and defensively.

28-year old point guard Jameer Nelson is playing the best basketball of his NBA career right now.  Nelson has played in 19 games (all starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 30.3 minutes, 14.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game.  Nelson is also shooting well so far this year from everywhere on the court.  Nelson is hitting 46.7% from the floor, 41% from the three point line and 76% from the free throw line so far this year.  Nelson has been more lethal that usual because he’s looking to pass a little more this year and it’s helping the offense as a whole.

25-year old power forward Brandon Bass told the Magic during the off-season to either play me or trade me. He was upset at how little playing time he got last season which was his first year with the Magic. Bass played in 50 games (3 starts) in 2009-10 with the Magic and he averaged 13.0 minutes, 5.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. This year the Magic have given him a little more P.T. and Bass is looking good. He has played in 6 games (0 starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 18.7 minutes, 8.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. When the Magic want to add muscle to the starting lineup they should start Bass at power forward and move Rashard Lewis to small forward, where he belongs.

Dwight Howard’s minutes are down a little bit so far this year because the Magic have been blowing out teams this year. Howard has played in 6 games (all starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 30.7 minutes, 23.2 points, 11.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 2.7 blocked shots per game. He is still, by far, the best center in the NBA and it looks like he’s looking for his shot more which is bad news for the rest of the NBA. The sky is the limit for Howard this year and the Magic will go as far as he takes them this season.

26-year old backup center Marcin Gortat is off to a good start for the Orlando Magic. Gortat has played in 2 games (0 starts) for the Magic so far this year and he is averaging 16.5 minutes, 5.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.0 steal and 0.5 blocked shots per game. The Magic should find a way to get Dwight Howard and Marcin Gortat on the floor at the same time which would give them a set of twin towers. The Magic have enough shooters on the perimeter to make that kind of setup work.

28-year old point guard Jameer Nelson played solid basketball last season. He played in 65 games (64 starts) in which he averaged 28.6 minutes, 12.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game. Nelson has now played in 394 games (299 starts) in his NBA career in which he is averaging 27.6 minutes, 12.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Nelson is now 8th all-time in games played (394) with the Orlando Magic. He is also #8 in three pointers made (411), #5 in assists (1,831), #9 in steals (383) and #10 in points scored (4,869) in Magic history. The Magic need Nelson to stay healthy in the future and keep up the good work.

Dwight Howard had one of the most impressive playoff series in playoff history against the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, even though he failed to score 30 points in any single game.  It was one of the most impressive playoff performances because of how dominate and efficient he was on both ends of the court.  He was able to lead the Magic to four straight blowout wins by taking only an average of 8 shots per game.  He averaged 21 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks in 37 minutes per game.  Now those numbers are very good, but what makes his performance in this series so impressive is just how dominate he really was.  Out of the 32 field goal attempts Howard had in this series, he only missed 5.  That means he shot 84.4% from the field in the entire series, giving him the best field goal percentage in a playoff series ever.  The Hawks were forced to collapse down on Howard, and he was able to either score, get fouled, or pass it out to the perimeter for a wide open three.  He also guarded the basket almost as well as a big man can, by either blocking or changing the shot almost every time the Hawks took it into the paint.  The Hawks had no chance in this series because of the way Howard kept them out of the paint, off the boards, and in foul trouble.  The Magic have to be the favorites to make it out of the Eastern Conference, but they will have a much tougher task going up against the winner of the Boston Celtics-Cleveland Cavaliers series.

Shooting guard Vince Carter is playing his best basketball right now and the Magic hope he can keep up the good work. Carter has played in 11 games in March so far and he is averaging 33.7 minutes, 19.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. Carter’s shooting is also improving as he is hitting 50.4% from the floor, 46.2% from three point range and 87.9% from the free throw line in March. Carter has now played in 64 games (63 starts) this season for the Magic and he is averaging 31.2 minutes, 16.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. Carter usually disappears in the playoffs but the Magic better hope that changes because they won’t beat the Cavs, Hawks or Celtics if he doesn’t play well in the playoffs.