Dwight Howard was looking for some guidance how to deal with his difficult first-round series against the Charlotte Bobcats. He might have found some wisdom in a movie called Peaceful Warrior. (You can view the trailer above.

Howard spent part of his Thursday watching the film after someone told him it might provide some lessons that Howard could apply to his own life.

The movie, which was released in 2006, focuses on a competitive gymnast who suffers a severe leg injury but recovers through the help of a wise sage played by Nick Nolte.

“There’s a lot of things in that movie that stood out,” Howard said Friday. “I think was like a breakout session for me. It was good. I’d seen the movie before, but I ended up watching it again, and this time I really paid attention to it. I took notes like I was in class and everything. There was one thing that stood out when he was saying that we’re always looking for somebody to tell us what we need to do. We’re always looking around for answers from everybody else instead of searching within for the answer. . . .

Continue reading Dwight Howard draws inspiration from an unlikely source »

If the Milwaukee Bucks-Atlanta Hawks series goes to a Game 7, Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy will give his players the day off on Saturday. That means Orlando wouldn’t begin its second round series until Tuesday.

Van Gundy said the players’ intensity and focus was better yesterday than it was today, but he expects that to improve once they have an opponent for the second round.

The Magic have a scout in Milwaukee and he will scout Cleveland and Boston after that.

Another series that caught some of the Magic’s interest was the Texas battle between the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs. The seventh-seed Spurs eliminated the second-seed Mavericks last night in Game 6 in San Antonio.

Continue reading Orlando Magic update: Stan Van Gundy will give Orlando Magic players a day off if Hawks-Bucks series goes to a Game 7 »

The media masses descended on Cleveland yesterday to speak with LeBron James’ elbow and report on the pending Cleveland-Boston conference semifinal series.

(Yes, that was a link to LeBron’s Elbow’s twitter account)

A few LeBron news nuggets before I head of to Magic practice on his elbow and impending MVP selection.

Continue reading LeBron, LeBron and more LeBron James »

Most of the talk around Magic practice yesterday involved what to do about Dwight Howard’s foul trouble.

The Magic will be playing close attention to the Bucks and Hawks tonight in an elimination game for the Hawks. If Milwaukee wins, which they very well could at home, they’ll face the Magic on Sunday. That’s a quick turnaround.

Around the league, the Suns and Spurs advanced to face each other in the second round. After losing in the first round of a season when his team was expected to be a title contender, Dirk Nowitzki hinted at leaving Dallas. The Lakers will try to eliminate the Thunder tonight in Oklahoma City.

That and more in today’s morning links.

Continue reading Top Magic and NBA News: Friday, April 30 »

So Orlando Magic GM Otis Smith told Dwight Howard to move on and help his team win an NBA championship.

But with an epic figure like NBA commissioner David Stern and his NBA refs in Dwight Howard’s way, it’s hard for the big fella to move on.

So here is your chance to help Dwight Howard out — or at least pretend like you’re helping him out by playing a video game.

The makers of Stan Van Pac-Man, Whack-a-Shaq, Whack-a-Tiger Woods and Urban Meyer-Nick Saban boxing, have developed a new video game sensation that is sure to provide you with countless hours of entertainment.

Continue reading Dwight Howard vs. David Stern video game provides a Magic breakout »

Last night an allegedly too-old-to-win team knocked off the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Remember when conventional wisdom said the Mavericks would challenge the Lakers for the Western Conference title?

The East’s creaky, old team is Boston. But the Boston Celtics are playing better and more confidently now than they were a few months ago. They looked impressive in a 4-1 win over the Miami Heat.

Is Boston playing well enough to beat Cleveland in the Eastern Conference semifinal series that starts Saturday?

Continue reading Vote: Can the Boston Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers? »

Dwight Howard and Magic GM Otis Smith had a chat after practice on Thursday (Photo by the AP)

For about 20 minutes after Magic practice today, Magic GM Otis Smith sat with Dwight Howard at the top of the short bleachers that overlook Orlando’s practice court. Howard listened while Smith spoke to him about staying on the floor.

In foul trouble most of Orlando’s first-round series against the Charlotte Bobcats, Howard averaged just 26.5 minutes per game. His frustration afterward earned him a $35,000 fine. Howard complained on his blog that he doesn’t see other stars getting calls like that.

Smith’s message to Howard was to forget about all of that. He told Howard he needs to do whatever it takes to stay on the floor because as each round progresses, his participation will become more critical.

In Q&A form, here were Smith’s thoughts about Howard, superstar calls, Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat and what he wants from his big four (well, big three and little one would be more accurate I guess). The best Howard stuff is at the end.

Continue reading Magic GM Otis Smith doesn’t believe in superstar calls, wants Dwight Howard to move forward »

Josh Smith and the Atlanta Hawks are on the brink of elimination at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks (Wire Photo)

Magic coach Stan Van Gundy put his players through a long, grueling workout today — much like those they used to experience early in the season. They had a couple of days off after sweeping the Charlotte Bobcats, and were well rested for it.

Some better than others. Matt Barnes said he teased Dwight Howard that Howard had fresh legs because he hardly played at all in the first round.

The Magic don’t know who they’ll face in the next round. But since the Milwaukee Bucks have a 3-2 lead, and are the only team the Magic could possibly face on Sunday, Orlando are preparing as if they were playing Milwaukee on Sunday.

If the Bucks win the series in six, they’ll face Orlando on Sunday. If the Hawks make it a seven-game series and win, Atlanta won’t face Orlando until Tuesday.

“The tough day is if it goes seven games, the tough day is Sunday,” Van Gundy said. “Now you got both teams still alive, you’ve just got Sunday and Monday to prepare. Tomorrow’s not hard to decide the only team we could play Sunday is Milwaukee.”

The Magic went 3-0 against Milwaukee in the regular season, but the Bucks are playing much differently than they were when they met Orlando.

“All of their perimeter guys that they play, they’re basically playing five guys, [Brandon] Jennings, [John] Salmons, [Carlos] Delfino, [Jerry] Stackhouse and [Luke] Ridnour, all five of them can shoot the ball with range to three, and all five of them can create their own shots off the dribble,” Van Gundy said.

Continue reading Magic preparing as if they’ll play Milwaukee on Sunday »

It looked pretty certain the Atlanta Hawks were going to win the first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks, what with the Bucks’ mercurial nature and that center Andrew Bogut’s arm was destroyed.

It even looked pretty certain late in the fourth quarter.

Not late enough for the Hawks, though, who lost the game. It was either a remarkable collapse or comeback, depending on your perspective and we’ll give you both in today’s morning links. The Bucks are now up 3-2 in the series, having won the last three games against Atlanta. They return to Milwaukee, where the Hawks haven’t had much success this postseason.

Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets won an elimination game for the first time since 1994.

That and more in today’s morning links.

Continue reading Top Magic and NBA News: Thursday, April 29 »

Dwight Howard is getting ripped nationwide (and got fined $35,000) for his blog post griping about NBA referees. The consensus view seems to be this: Dwight should shut up and stop committing stupid fouls. And you know what? The media masses are probably right on this point.

 That being said, David Stern shouldn’t be excused for doing nothing while his refs ruin perfectly good basketball games. NBA officiating is awful and it has been for years. There is a reason so many NBA fans think games are fixed (37 percent according to one poll). It’s not because the games are actually rigged. It’s because the number of rotten calls is so exasperating.

Continue reading OK, Dwight was wrong, but David Stern must answer for the NBA’s awful officiating »