Dwight Howard Injury: Orlando Magic Need Return of Big Man to Quell 4-Game Skid

In the Eastern Conference this year, making the NBA playoffs is really akin to being one of the top six seeds.

Why?

Because the seventh and eighth seeds get a date with the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls, respectively. That's trouble. And if the Orlando Magic want to avoid that fate, they'll need to end the four-game skid they find themselves on.

And the fastest way to do that is to get back a healthy Dwight Howard, who has missed the past two games with back spasms. Spasms that Brendan Haywood caused, if you ask Stan Van Gundy.

The Magic currently sit at fifth in the East at 32-24, though they are only a game ahead of the Atlanta Hawks and two-and-a-half games ahead of the Sixers. The Knicks look pretty locked in as the eighth seed at this point.

With only nine games remaining (and two of them against the Sixers), the Magic can't afford to remain on a losing streak, one they started before Howard's injury and have continued during the two games he's missed.

Then again, what could be more fitting in this dysfunctional year for the Magic than a late-season slump followed by a one-and-done in the playoffs? And hey, after that maybe Howard's rumored wish for a new coach would come true.

What a mess this year has been. And yet, the team is 32-24 and could end up with as high as the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. They're only a half game behind Indiana in that regard.

The Magic have a ton at stake in the last nine games of the season, and they obviously aren't going to do much without Howard in the lineup.

He should be returning sooner than later—good news for a Magic team with a lot to gain and even more to lose down the stretch.

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