The Magic have kept their momentum going at home with a 98-88 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. It was a game that gave me a sense of disappointment and excitement at the same time. I was very disappointed to see big Dwight Howard’s double double streak end five games into the season. He had previously stated that he wanted to get a double double every game this year. Well, not this year Dwight. It was early foul trouble that got him last night, which is not uncommon for a big man, and he was limited to 14 and 8 in just over 28 minutes. I’ve always had problems with guys saying things like this. I only dislike it because if you publicly say it it comes off cocky and you pigeon hole yourself. If you just set the goal for yourself and then go out and try to get it, no one but you is disappointed. If you get it then everyone will come looking for more things out of you like that and you end up on that slippery slope everyone talks about. Anyway, I felt good about the game because the rest of the team, especially Turk and Lewis, stepped up in Howard’s absence. That’s always a good thing to see. Lewis and Turk both had 20/8 and Tony Battie filled in admirably for Howard as well. There were a couple other things I took from the game also. Pietrus did a nice job in Andre Iguodala and didn’t turn the ball over. That’s exactly what the Magic want from him, some more offense would be nice but as long as he gives them the ‘D’ we’ll be happy. This game also marked the second straight game JJ Reddick didn’t see the floor. Has he really been that bad? Maybe there’s something else going on here. Any way you slice it, he needs to go. We need to stop torturing the fans and Reddick. Everyone wants to see him play and he can’t seem to find a way off the bench. Trade him for a case of Gatorade already and move on.
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