Dwight Howard will reportedly miss up to two weeks with a herniated disk. (Getty Images)
ESPN the Magazine reports that Magic center Dwight Howardwill be held out 10-14 days for treatment as he and the Magic try and avoid surgery on the All-Star's back in order to preserve a postseason run of critical importance for the franchise. Howard was diagnosed with a herniated disk Friday and the magazine reports that surgery is not completely out of the question. 

Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard will attempt to treat the herniated disk in his lower back with rest and rehabilitation for the next 10-14 days and then be re-evaluated, a source familiar with Howard's condition told ESPN The Magazine.

... The disk is not fully herniated and non-operable treatment has been recommended, the source said, but "it's not 100 percent clear" if that treatment will work, and surgery remains a possibility.

There is no timetable for Howard's return.

via Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard to treat, rest back for 2 weeks, source says - ESPN.

The Magic are three games above the seventh and eighth seeded New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers with seven games remaining. A first-round matchup with either Chicago or Miami would be disastrous. To be sure, a 4-5 matchup with Boston isn't appealing either. But going on the road against what will in all likelihood be a rested Chicago or Miami squad with or without Howard is an impossibly tough matchup for a team desperate to make a run. 

The Magic need momentum before making a run at either of the Big 2, and facing them in the first round with Howard possibly playing his first games back would pretty much be stacking the deck against them as much as possible. 

The Magic's last seven games feature a mix of playoff teams and lottery squads. They face Boston, Memphis, and Denver, but also a struggling Sixers squad in a tailspin and the lowly Bobcats. There have been a number of wins by teams without their superstars this season. The Magic need to get some of their own in the next two weeks. 

When Dwight Howard elected to sign his waiver for his free agency opt-out over the summer, he asked the Magic to "roll the dice" with him. All of a sudden the dice feel doubly loaded.