Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy doesn't think Magic center Dwight Howard will be given this season's most valuable player award, and he is probably right.
He wasn't campaigning for Howard last week when the Milwaukee Bucks were in central Florida, but when inquiring minds brought up the subject, Van Gundy offered his take on how he thinks Howard fits into the whole MVP race.
And how Howard is perceived in general.
"It's not just the MVP thing," said Van Gundy. "I think everybody knows he's a real good player, so it's not that he doesn't get any respect. But for whatever reason, he just -- at least on a national basis -- does not get talked about as much as some of the other guys. I don't know if it's a big man and little man thing, but you hear about all the great perimeter players.
"You hear about (Dwyane) Wade and (LeBron) James and Kobe Bryant and Derrick Rose and you can go on and on. You hear about all of those guys, but you don't hear his name come up a whole lot. The only time you hear it is if they're specifically talking about our game. But in terms of general discussion in the NBA, he's just not a guy they talk about a whole lot. I'd love to see him win it. I don't expect to see it, but I'd love to see it."
A more pressing issue might be whether Howard will be able to lead the Magic deep into the playoffs. Orlando didn't look very good in narrowly beating the Bucks last week and Howard admitted afterward that it was an ugly victory.
The Magic had pretty much clinched the No. 4 playoff seed in the East by the time they played the Bucks -- and they did clinch it that night -- and Orlando was trying to figure out whether it was time to rest players or go all out to build some momentum for the playoffs.
Howard had said publicly the team needed fewer practices and shootarounds, and Van Gundy did cancel the shootaround on the day of the game against the Bucks. Howard will be able to catch up on his rest Sunday when he is suspended for the game against Chicago after picking up his 18th technical foul.
Van Gundy, though, doesn't think his team is good enough to just flip a switch like perhaps the Lakers, Spurs and Celtics can and start playing well in the playoffs.
"We're not going to be perfect every night so don't expect us to not make mistakes," said Howard. "We're going to miss shots. We're going to make bad plays. It's the NBA. It's life."
At the end of last week, Howard ranked among the league leaders in scoring, rebounding, field-goal percentage and blocks, and he anchors one of the league's better defenses.
The Magic may go as far in the playoffs as Howard can carry them on his broad shoulders.
"We are one of the top defensive teams in the league, and I think that is largely due to him," said Van Gundy. "I think without him, on the defensive end, we would go from being one of the top three or four teams in the league defensively to clearly being in the bottom half of the league defensively.
"He's the best defensive player in the league. I don't even think that's close. And then he's averaging 23 points a game. People have always said his offense needs to improve. Well, it has. There have been a lot of games where he's really had to carry us. There's not much more he can do on the court for his team than he's done."
A ho-hum season
The Houston Rockets didn't make the playoffs but that doesn't mean they didn't help others get in. Their home loss to Sacramento clinched a playoff berth for Portland, and their loss to New Orleans put the Hornets in the playoffs and put Memphis right at the doorstep of the playoffs. After the game in New Orleans, the Rockets could hear the Hornets celebrating from the visitors' locker room.
"We've just got to remember the sounds of their team making the playoffs and how happy they were," said Houston guard Kevin Martin. "We could hear them from our locker room. That's all we have to keep in mind throughout the summer."
Learned a lesson
The Magic last week hadn't begun preparations for a first-round playoff series with Atlanta because, said Van Gundy, Orlando started preparing too early last season for a second-round series with Milwaukee that never materialized. The Bucks took a 3-2 lead in their first-round series against the Hawks only to have Atlanta win the final two games of that series.
"The only team we could have played on that Saturday was Milwaukee if (Atlanta) didn't extend that series," said Van Gundy. "So we came in and spent all day and got all ready for Milwaukee. They lose Game 6 and Game 7 and you change. So we're not going to do anything with the players, as far as specifically talking about Atlanta. The priority right now is to rejuvenate a little bit, regain some energy and play better."
They're struggling
Nets center Brook Lopez scored a career-high 39 points in a loss to Detroit, but he scored his last basket with 9:20 left. After that, the Nets stopped going to him. Go figure.
"He was trying to make a statement and that's what we've been looking for from him all year," said Nets coach Avery Johnson . "But in the last six, seven, eight minutes of the game we didn't get him the ball and because of that we struggled offensively."
Lousy whistles
Orlando's Howard received his 18th technical and the one-game suspension when he got upset about being whistled for taking more than 10 seconds to shoot a free throw in the second quarter against Charlotte.
After being called for that violation, he rolled the ball out of bounds and got hit with the technical. Howard had also been called for a 10-second free throw violation the night before against the Bucks. In the game against Milwaukee, Bucks coach Scott Skiles had been kind enough to help referee Dick Bavetta time how long it took Howard to shoot the free throw by counting out loud from the Bucks bench,
Broken-down bus
The Utah Jazz won 27 of its first 40 games and was leading the Northwest Division before the wheels fell off the bus.
Jerry Sloan stepped aside as coach, Deron Williams was traded and the Jazz failed to make the playoffs. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, no team in NBA history has ever started out that well and did not make the playoffs. Utah's C. J. Miles said the players lost their focus because they were worried about "the other stuff and not basketball".
"Some of the stuff really weighed on us," he said. "Even if you weren't one of the guys doing it, it still takes a toll on you. It's like you're tired of hearing it."
Watching the Jumbo
After the Pacers beat Washington last week, Indiana still needed Charlotte to lose to Orlando that night to clinch a playoff spot.
After the final buzzer of Indiana's victory over the Wizards at Conseco Fieldhouse, the Bobcats-Magic game was in overtime so Pacers management put the Bobcats game on the Jumbotron and many of the Pacers fans hung around to cheer for the Magic. The Bucks beat Miami that same night but were eliminated from the playoff because the Pacers beat Washington.
Love and happiness
Clippers rookie Blake Griffin, who played in college 20 miles down the road in Norman, Okla., was booed several times as he was posting 35 points and 11 rebounds against Oklahoma City. Griffin said he was not surprised by the reception despite the fact that he's a former Oklahoma Sooner.
"The Thunder is these people's team," he said. "You're not going to cheer for me just because I'm from Oklahoma. I didn't really expect (to be cheered). I'm sure there were a lot of Oklahoma State fans in the audience."
Fast breaks
Miami is still unsure if injured forward Udonis Haslem will be available for the playoffs. . . .
The Rockets will miss the playoffs for the second straight season and have won only one playoff series (Portland in 2009) since 1997. . . .
Omri Casspi, who has fallen out of the rotation in Sacramento, says he would like to play for a team that values his skills and emphasizes "team ball." . . .
Portland's Andre Miller has climbed to 14th place on the all-time assists list with Steve Nash (sixth) and Jason Kidd (second) the only active players ahead of him.
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DOWN THE LANE
This Week in the NBA
The Heat, battling Boston for the No. 2 playoff seed in the East, hosts the Celtics on Sunday. Miami will then finish the season on the road at Atlanta and Toronto. "What does the 2 seed guarantee you?" said Miami's LeBron James. "It doesn't guarantee you win the series. It guarantees you home court in the first two rounds, but it doesn't guarantee you anything. I am a prime example. The last two years, I have been the first overall seed of everybody, all 16 teams, and it didn't pay off for us. It is not about seeding. Once you get to the top eight and the playoffs start, everyone is 0-0. You just have to go out and prepare yourself the best way to win that series." The Celtics' final two games are at Washington and at home against New York. Orlando will be without the suspended Dwight Howard and Quintin Richardson on Sunday at home against Chicago. The Bulls finish the season at New York and at home against New Jersey. San Antonio visits the Staples Center to play the Lakers Tuesday.
GAME OF THE WEEK
The Celtics will be going for a season sweep of the four-game series against the Heat when they play at Miami on Sunday.
BUCKS WEEK
They'll play their final home game Monday against Toronto and put a lid on the season Wednesday in Oklahoma City before tackling that all-important question: "Where do we go from here?"
QUOTABLE
"I had about 20 wings between scores. It was not a great basketball game."
Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy on being at a restaurant with his son's baseball team and watching the low-scoring NCAA championship game between Butler and UConn.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
The 29 points that LeBron James scored against Milwaukee were not enough to get the Heat a victory, but he did reach another milestone. His first points of the game -- two free throws late in the first quarter -- gave him 2,000 points for the season. James became the seventh player in NBA history to score at least 2,000 points in seven straight seasons, and he joined some pretty impressive company as Karl Malone (11 straight seasons), Alex English (eight), and Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Oscar Robertson and Wilt Chamberlain (seven each) are the others. "It means a lot," said James. "As an individual it means I've stayed healthy over the course of those years, and my teammates have given me leeway to produce every night."
NUMBERS GAME
Kendrick Perkins was whistled for five technical fouls in his first 13 games with Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City players were called for 12 technical fouls all of last season.
In defeating the Bucks, 78-72, Orlando scored its fewest points in a home victory since a 77-75 victory over Miami on Nov., 24, 2002.
The Spurs' victory over Sacramento was No. 796 for coach Gregg Popovich in San Antonio, moving him past Red Auerbach into second place for victories with one franchise. Jerry Sloan (1,127 with Utah) is the all-time leader.
Against Milwaukee, Mike Miller (12) and Joel Anthony (11) became the first pair of Miami reserves with double-digit rebounds in the same game since Matt Geiger and Rony Seikaly did it in 1994.
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