Orlando Magic Pound Heat; Dwight Howard: "I Don't Follow The Heat"
Well, the Heat might need to start following Howard, if they are ever going to have any kind of chance of stopping him and the Magic.
Here is a link to the video of Dwight Howard commenting on whether he follows the Heat or not:
This time around against the Heat, the Magic were able to exploit the Heat's weakest two positions: point guard and center.
Jameer Nelson had a career night, with a career high of 14 assists, while Dwight Howard dominated both ends of the court, scoring 24 points and grabbing 18 boards. The Magic were able to answer the doubters who labeled the Heat as the better team, following their 26 point slaughter of the Magic in Miami earlier this year.
The Magic improved to 10-4 and are second only to Boston in the Eastern Conference. The Heat meanwhile have dropped to 8-7, including a 2-5 record against teams with a .500 record or better.
The Magic have a superior team concept to the Heat, who are playing like a three player team of individuals.
Jeff Van Gundy made the point that the Heat have several rotation players who would barely play, if at all, on other contending teams. Pinpointed as their weak point prior to the season, depth has proved to be a real problem for the Heat and their second unit is destitute without Mike Miller and Haslem, the latter of who might be out for the season.
Losing their top two subs will hurt more than Heat fans and experts realize at this point. When reliant on Juwan Howard, Joel Anthony, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and the newly acquired Erick Dampier, it is going to be difficult for the Heat to stop the league's premier big men. Carlos Arroyo won't have an easy time keeping the premier point guards in check either.
It's become painfully obvious that the Heat are at least a year away from building a serious contender. They must address depth problems via free agency as well as acquire a starter caliber point guard and center.
While it is too early to write the Heat off as contenders, they have a long way to go before they can be mentioned in the same breath as Boston, Orlando and Los Angeles (and San Antonio while we're at it).
