Will Dwight Howard's "Call Out" Work in the Celtics' Favor?

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So, let's review...

1. Dwight Howard thinks Stan Van Gundy doesn't keep the best player rotations on the floor and inexplicably makes changes at the wrong times.

2. Dwight Howard needs more touches, though it is safe to say that pundits generally agree that he doesn't have a go-to shot.

3. Dwight Howard's game is a half court game, but he thinks the team should be running more.

Are you confused? Don't be. That is part of why the Magic aren't as good as their record might indicate. Seemingly contradictory things are true with them.

Dwight is apparently solvable at both ends of the floor, it seems. He is averaging 16 points (four points less than his season average) and 16.4 rebounds (2.6 more than the season average), shooting 54 percent against the Celtics, and playing very well, but hasn't dominated.

He had just six games (the team went 3-3) without a block during the regular season. In this series, he has two games with no blocks, and the Magic lost both.

So, his very public comments may get him more touches and maybe more shots, and more points. But doesn't it telegraph to Doc Rivers what to expect from Orlando in the next game? Perkins had handled Howard a lot in single coverage. The Celtics could change things up.

The most important thing is neither complaint, from where I sit. Dwight actually mentioned it:

"...those guys (Celtics) wanted it more than we did. ... As a team we have to stop hanging our heads and stop getting frustrated when things don't go our way. ... We tend to get frustrated."

Another word can be used there: choke. This team doesn't play well under pressure.

Maybe Shaquille O'Neal was right after all. Maybe Stan Van Gundy is a carrier of panic attacks with his personality and coaching style. It is often said that a team takes on the personality of its coach.

But it is the players who play, and Rashard Lewis missed three shots in the fourth, including a couple of open ones that he is paid large sums to make.

The other problem with this team is that they don't really have a go-to guy in the fourth quarter or in tough times.

You can talk team play all you want, and I love team play.

But you need main guys and secondary guys that can bring it home for you. The Magic doesn't have those main guys. Hedo Turkoglu, in the past, and this year, Jameer Nelson, would come the closest to filling that need.

But that simply highlights the weakness and why the Magic aren't thought of as among the very top tier of the league's teams. Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu are your go-to guys?

Unless Dwight or Rashard morph into a true go-to guy before the next game, Howard's complaints could play right into the Celtics hands.

On the other hand, the Celtics don't seem to play well with the lead themselves. A six-game close out would be wonderful, but I'll believe it when I see it.

A slightly different version of this article appears in Tom's CelticsCentral blog in The Connecticut Post.

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