Howard's Play a Slam Dunk for Magic

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Howard's Play a Slam Dunk for Magic

The Orlando Magic may be limping toward the all-star break - with four of their top nine still in street clothes - but center Dwight Howard is running again at full gallop.

Howard is playing as well as he ever has offensively, working through that midseason lull that raised questions of his weariness, gamely trying to carry the load with so many injuries around him.

The Magic (26-26) have lost four of their last five, now desperately needing a win Wednesday at home against Portland to avoid falling below the .500 mark for the first time since the first week of the season.

But in the four games in five days last week, Howard was at his offensive best, playing again with that earlier spring in his legs, making an incredible 44 of his 52 shots (84.6 percent). Not since Wilt Chamberlain has anyone in the NBA shot so well in a four-game span.

He scored a career high 32 Wednesday against Toronto, then 30 and the game-winning alley-oop dunk in the final second to beat the San Antonio Spurs on Friday. He averaged 27 points for the week, well above his 17.6 point average.

Although the rebounding has declined recently - in part because he has focused more on scoring - his shot blocking has risen, averaging 10 rebounds and 2.5 in this stretch.

After leading the NBA in rebounding through much of season - trying to become the youngest rebounding champion in league history - he has fallen to fourth (11.8 rpg). At the same time, he has risen to fourth in field-goal percentage (.591).

In his worst shooting night in a week, Howard made 11 of 15 shots Saturday, but the Magic were no factor in the fourth-quarter of a 93-78 loss to the Nets.

The struggles have dropped the Magic into a precarious slide, allowing them to free fall from atop the Eastern Conference to the bottom part of the Eastern Conference playoff picture. And the toughest stretch of the season is awaiting them immediately after the break.

They are banking on the healthy return after the break of Grant Hill (knee), Keyon Dooling (hand) Tony Battie (hand) and Trevor Ariza (knee) to pull them from the slide.

"We're not going to hang our heads," Howard said. "It's been a tough time for us, but we're going to fight through this. We're going to be a good team again."

The Magic have been hurt by inconsistency all around Howard. Point guard Jameer Nelson was huge in the victory over San Antonio, but he struggled to shoot straight in the three games before and again Saturday in New Jersey. His play has been sporadic.

Power forward Darko Milicic, now a starter with Battie hurt, has been hot and cold all season. Keith Bogans is better suited for a backup role than starting in place of Grant Hill. And small forward Hedo Turkoglu has lost his shooting aim.

"We just have to continue fighting through this," Nelson said. "I don't have the answer. If I had it, there wouldn't be a problem."

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