When your franchise player gets smacked in the mouth with an elbow and has to leave practice, the usual reaction of management is to cringe.
Orlando Magic general manager Otis Smith, though, couldn't help but think the blow delivered by seldom-used rookie Marcin Gortat last week to the mouth of Dwight Howard -- resulting in a bloody cut that required six stitches -- was fitting payback.
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| When defenses collapse on him, Dwight Howard points to Orlando's perimeter threats for help. (AP) |
Make no mistake about it, Howard has spent this season dishing out more than his share of blows -- and not just to opponents. A few teammates have paid the price for getting in his way.
Veteran forward Tony Battie, who hasn't played at all this season, suffered a torn rotator cuff when he was matched against Howard in practice before the preseason. Howard later caught guard Jameer Nelson in the mouth with a stray elbow during a game that caused the point guard to miss two games with concussion-like symptoms. And it was Howard -- trying to slap away a ball in practice -- who broke a bone in forward Brian Cook's right hand.
Howard, a 6-11, 265-pound center, isn't a dirty player. He's just a physical force who has developed into one of the game's best power players this season.
In just his fourth NBA season, Howard, 22, was averaging 20.9 points and 14.3 rebounds before Tuesday night's game at Atlanta. Few players are able to match his strength and athleticism, so guarding Howard usually is a team assignment.
That's the approach the Detroit Pistons used a year ago en route to a first-round sweep of the Magic. Howard put up decent numbers (15.3 points and 14.8 rebounds) in the series, but was never allowed to be a dominant force.
"(The Pistons) loaded up in the paint and when I got the ball and I was going up, they fouled me right away," he said. "I just have to step up to the free-throw line and make it."
Against the Pistons, Howard was just 15-for-33 (45.5 percent) from the free-throw line in that series. He is making just 59.9 percent of his free-throw attempts this season, but believes he is better prepared now if the Toronto Raptors -- Orlando's first-round opponent -- employs the hack-a-Howard strategy.
"I think our coaching staff prepared me great this year," he said.
Shooting better from the free-throw line would be a great help, but there's little question this Magic team is better suited to make teams pay for focusing too much on Howard. With the improvement of Hedo Turkoglu (19.7 points) and the addition of Rashard Lewis (18.3 points), the Magic have more weapons to exploit a defense packed into the paint.
"We've seen that a lot as it is," Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said. "I think that when you do that, you open up shots for us. If you're going to put two people on him, there's a shooter somewhere because we're putting four 3-point shooters around him.
