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It will likely be argued that Stan Van Gundy is a product of his star players. After all, he has only coached teams that included either Dwyane Wade or Dwight Howard. And Howard especially anchored a defensive unit that, in the Van Gundy era, has certainly been one of the best in the league.

For four straight seasons, the Magic ranked in the top five in defensive efficiency -- including first in 2008-09 and second the following season.

Over the five season span that Van Gundy coached the team, the Magic ranked second-best in the league in defensive efficiency, second in defensive field goal percentage and first in points in the paint allowed.

All because of Dwight Howard, you say? Consider that in Howard's three seasons before Van Gundy became head coach, the team ranked 15th, 11th and seventh in those categories.

That could be a product of Howard simply coming into his own and developing into a dominant force as an NBA player. But though Howard reportedly wanted the coach out of town, Van Gundy leaves with several impressive items on his coaching resume.

He reached the playoffs in all five seasons with the Magic and racked up 31 playoff wins. That's more playoff wins than the franchise had in its previous 18 seasons of existence.

Since Van Gundy took over, he led the Magic to a better regular-season record than all but three teams. The only franchsies who were better are the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs.

He's not likely to get mentioned in the same breath as Phil Jackson when discussing the greatest NBA coaches, but there is something big that Stan Van Gundy and Jackson have in common: neither coached a losing season.

Jackson coached 20 seasons and never had a losing record, while Van Gundy's total was just eight seasons. Five with the Magic, three with the Heat. And yes, that includes the year with the Heat where Van Gundy was 11-10 before being replaced with Pat Riley.

But Elias tells us that Van Gundy is in rare company. Along with Jackson, the only others who coached at least eight seasons and never had a losing record are former Knicks coach Joe Lapchick and former 76ers coach Billy Cunningham. Both are in the Hall of Fame.

And Van Gundy's .641 career winning percentage puts him in another elevated group: coaches with a winning percentage that high who have coached at least 500 games. Counting Van Gundy, that group is only six members and includes Jackson, Gregg Popovich and Red Auerbach.

But since the 2009 NBA Finals appearance, Van Gundy's Magic teams just haven't had similar success. They had 13 playoff wins that year, beating LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers, the Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers on their way to the Finals.

Since then, they've tallied just two series wins and been bounced by the Atlanta Hawks and Indiana Pacers in consecutive years.

Coming off a pair of 1st-Round sweeps, the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs are each on the front end of series against teams coming off a seven-game series.

The Thunder had eight days off prior to their 29-point demolition of the Los Angeles Lakers (one day of rest) on Monday. The Spurs, who will have had seven days off, open their series Tuesday against the Los Angeles Clippers (one day of rest).

Is it possible for a team to have too much time off between series? At what point does "rest" lend itself to "rust"? If recent history is any indication, "rust" is overrated.

Over the last 15 seasons, teams with at least seven days off are now a perfect 6-0 against teams with just a single day to recover. What's shocking might not be the perfect 6-0 record, but the fact that the games haven't even been close.

The average margin of victory in those six games is nearly 25 points per game. The only one of those six games to be decided by single digits was Game 1 of last year's Western Conference Finals in which the Dallas Mavericks beat the Thunder by nine after leading by as many as 16 in the fourth quarter.

Just how important is that extra day of rest for the team with the quick turnaround? Whereas teams with a week off are perfect when their opponents have just a single day to recover, they are just 5-7 when their opponents have two or more days of rest while averaging 23.5 fewer points per game.

The Elias Sports Bureau tells us that over the last 10 years, there were six series played between one team coming off a sweep and the other off a seven-game series. Five of those six series were won by the team coming off the sweep, with the lone exception being the Orlando Magic's elimination of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals.

Clippers-Spurs Key Notes

- The team that wins Game 1 of a seven-game series goes on to win 78.2 percent of the time (337-94, including the 1st Round this year).

- This is their first-ever meeting in the postseason.

- The Spurs are 26-2 at home against the Clippers since drafting Tim Duncan. The .929 win percentage is tied for their third-best at home against any team over that span (27-0 vs Golden State Warriors; 14-0 vs Atlanta Hawks).

- To say these teams have differing levels of success in the postseason would be a drastic understatement. Despite being in the NBA for six fewer seasons, the Spurs have more NBA titles (four) than the Clippers have series wins (three). The Spurs have more than four times as many series wins (34) as the Clippers have playoff appearances (eight).

- Much of the focus will be on the matchup between Chris Paul (third in MVP voting) and Tony Parker (fifth in MVP voting). The two have faced off seven times in the postseason, with Parker winning four times. Paul has enjoyed the statistical advantage, averaging 23.7 points per game and 10.7 assists per game (19.4 PPG, 5.7 APG for Parker).

Statistical support for this story given by NBA.com.

Basketball geekery has delved into crunch time in various ways.

• First there was individual field goal percentage. That's where we learned that the players we thought owned crunch time (for instance Kobe Bryant and Chauncey Billups) actually miss a lot.
• A year ago, we added something new, looking at team offenses. That's a more important measure, assuming you value wins more than highlights. Who cares who gets the bucket, so long as they're on your team? That's where we learned that most teams were about the same, with some exceptions, including Chris Paul's Hornets, which were amazing.

But all that is only part of the picture. Because as much as we love clutch buckets, clutch wins also have a ton to do with defense. If you're going to point to any team as elite in the clutch, that must be included, and now it is.

As John Hollinger has explained, a lot of what teams do in crunch time is likely random. Looking at tiny parts of games creates some wacky results without a lot of predictive value ... anyone who says they know a team will do well in crunch time is likely fibbing. All teams do both well and poorly at different times. But defense may be a bit of an exception. Teams do seem to play defense with a certain consistency late in games.

Using NBA.com data from the last five years (current as of today), from games within five points in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime, Trevor Ebaugh of ESPN Stats & Info. dug in and created this pretty Tableau table:



Some of what we noticed:

• The Cavaliers of LeBron James and Mike Brown were unreal in crunch time, leading the league by a hefty margin for three straight years, with the best performances of any teams in the record. It's easy to see that LeBron James matters here -- once he left for Miami the Cavaliers’ plus/minus plummeted. The Cavs averaged plus-113 with James during those three seasons, and plus one in the two seasons since. Meanwhile, before James, the Heat weren't good in crunch time, but have since become very solid.
• Mike Brown emerges as an interesting character in crunch time. With James in Cleveland three straight years, and now in Los Angeles after a year off, his teams led the league by this metric every year he has coached in the last half-decade. In this period, neither team has been as good with other coaches, either.
• The Lakers have by far the best crunch time plus/minus this season (plus-79, the Pacers are second at plus-65). Pau Gasol (plus-78) has been their biggest individual star, followed closely by Andrew Bynum (plus-74). Kobe Bryant ranks third at plus-58. The Lakers achieved this number with the NBA's second-best clutch offense (behind the Magic) and the eighth-best defense.
• Three teams have shone for five straight years: The Lakers, Celtics and Magic. The Nuggets are flirting with joining that club, too.
• Superstars matter. Or, at least some do. LeBron James, Derrick Rose, Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul almost always end the season positive in this regard -- the only exceptions are Paul and Nowitzki this year, which could still change. Other big names, like Kevin Durant, Tim Duncan, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade have had more mixed results.
• Good teams in general do well in crunch time. The top six teams in crunch time plus/minus this season have already locked up playoff spots, for instance (Lakers, Pacers, Hawks, Magic, Spurs and Bulls). But it's hardly a perfect correlation. In fact, surely a lot of what we're seeing in this chart appears to be simple randomness. The Pacers, terrible for a long time, are suddenly leaders. The Kings are excellent crunch time defenders this season. The Hawks are a solid team that is way better than solid late in games. And plenty of good teams -- the Sixers, the Knicks -- are pretty bad with the game on the line.
• Over the past half-decade, just two teams, the Knicks and Timberwolves, haven't had a single season in positive territory.
• The top ten late-game offensive teams this season are the Magic, Lakers, Grizzlies, Bulls, Hawks, Pacers, Rockets, Thunder, Spurs and Knicks.
• The Pacers are by far this season's best defensive team late in close games. They are followed by the Hawks, Kings (!), Spurs, Heat, Magic, Bulls, Lakers, Thunder and Clippers.
• The Dallas Mavericks have been very good for the last five years, but also have had the biggest drop-off in crunch time performance, from a league-leading plus-117 last season to an anemic minus-16 this season.
• The Hawks have been good in crunch time for four straight years.
• The Spurs and Thunder have been up and down.
• The Houston Rockets (plus-31) and Memphis Grizzlies (plus-28) are the best crunch time teams this season that have yet to lock up a playoff spot. The Los Angeles Clippers (minus-9) are the only playoff team with a negative clutch plus/minus.

Mostly, this feels like it's the tip of the iceberg. There's a lot more to learn about all this, and one of the big questions on the horizon is something Bill James has wrestled with in baseball for quite some time: Is there such a thing as clutch time performers? Are there really players or teams who do better with the game on the line?

That's still not something we know. What we do know is that a lot of what we thought we knew was wrong.

Mavericks at Knicks – 1 ET on ABC
Despite Friday's loss to the New Orleans Hornets, it’s been a good two weeks for the New York Knicks, who have won seven of eight overall. And while Jeremy Lin has been the toast of New York City, he isn’t the only reason for the Knicks' recent success.

Over their past eight games, the Knicks rank second in the NBA in defensive efficiency, allowing just 93.7 points per 100 possessions. Prior to that, they ranked 11th in that same category.

Their game against the Dallas Mavericks represents the first test in a tough 14-game stretch in which the Knicks will play 11 games against teams with winning records.

Perhaps the biggest key to Sunday's game will be how the Mavericks defend what is suddenly the most pick-and-roll-dependent offense in the NBA.

Since Feb. 4, more than 27 percent of New York’s offensive possessions came via the pick-and-roll, according to video tracking by Synergy Sports. Over the course of the season, that would rank first in the NBA.

Lin in particular has leaned heavily on the pick-and-roll as nearly half of his offensive possessions have come as the P&R ball handler (see chart). Only Steve Nash runs a higher percentage of plays as the P&R ball handler.

Unfortunately for the Knicks, the Mavericks have the league’s top-ranked defense against the pick-and-roll ball handler, allowing just 0.65 points per play and holding opponents to 34 percent shooting.

Also, watch for whether Lin can limit the turnovers. Lin enters Sunday as the most turnover-prone P&R ball handler in the NBA, coughing it up on nearly 30 percent of his possessions. He will look to manage that number against a Mavericks defense which ranks second in the league in forcing turnovers when defending the pick-and-roll.

Magic at Heat - 3:30 ET on ABC
The second half of the ABC doubleheader pits the Orlando Magic at Miami Heat in their second meeting of the season. Orlando beat Miami 102-89 back on Feb. 8, behind a steady barrage of 3-pointers.

In that game, the Magic set a franchise record for 3-point attempts, finishing 17-for-42 from downtown, and actually attempted more 3-pointers than 2-pointers. In more than 16,000 regular-season games over the past 15 seasons, it was just the fifth time a team took more than half of its shots from beyond the arc.

That Orlando won while relying on its outside shooting is no surprise (see chart) -- 33 percent of the Magic’s total points this season have come from 3-pointers, the highest percentage in the NBA.

For Miami to avenge its loss, it will need to do a better job closing out on the Magic's shooters. In spot-up situations, Orlando ranks third in points per play (1.04) while its effective field goal percentage (53.2) ranks second.

Meanwhile, Miami ranks 23rd in defending spot-up situations while giving up a higher percentage of spot-up looks than any other team in the NBA.

KNICKS MAKE IT A NICKEL
The Milwaukee Bucks beat the New York Knicks who have now lost five straight games and stand at 6-9. Although Carmelo Anthony scored 35 points in the loss, the Knicks now stand at just 20-21 since trading for him last February.

A trend of leaning on Anthony in isolation continued against Milwaukee, as Anthony accounted for 15 of the Knicks’ 19 plays in isolation. On the season, the Knicks have ran a higher percentage of isolation plays than any other team, but are shooting just 29.3 percent on such plays, the worst in the NBA.

Brandon Jennings scored a season-high 36 points in the win, but did so without attempting a single free throw. He is the first player to score at least that many points without attempting a free throw since Jason Richardson in January 2008. Two of the three highest scoring games of his career have now come at Madison Square Garden, having hung 37 on March 25 of last season.

HOWARD SHOULDERS THE LOAD
Dwight Howard had 21 points and 23 rebounds to lead the Orlando Magic over the Los Angeles Lakers 92-80. It was Howard’s fifth game with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds this season, more than the rest of the NBA combined. According to Elias, Howard is the first player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975-76 with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in five of his team’s first 15 games of the season.

Although Kobe Bryant scored 30 points, the Lakers offense continues to struggle as they failed to top 100 points for the 10th straight game. That is tied for the second-longest such streak by the Lakers in the shot-clock era (since 1954-55).

BULLS WIN WITHOUT ROSE
Despite playing without Derrick Rose, the Chicago Bulls won 114-75, handing the Cleveland Cavaliers their worst home loss in franchise history. According to Elias, the 39-point margin of victory is the second-largest ever by the Bulls over the Cavaliers, trailing only a 121-80 result on December 22, 1970.

Chicago held Cleveland to just 30.3 percent shooting, the fifth-lowest allowed in a game this season. It was the fifth time this season the Bulls have held their opponent to under 35 percent shooting. The Lakers are the only other team with even three such games this season.

AROUND THE ASSOCIATION
• The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Atlanta Hawks 90-76 to improve to 11-4, their best start since starting 11-4 in 2002-03.

• LaMarcus Aldrige had 33 points, 23 rebounds and five assists to lead the Portland Trail Blazers over the Toronto Raptors. He is only the sixth player in the last 25 seasons to reach those threshold in a single game and the first to do it since Kevin Garnett in 2003-04.

• The Detroit Pistons scored 81 points in a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. It’s Pistons’ 16th straight game they have failed to score 100 points, their third-longest such streak in the shot-clock era.

The Orlando Magic avoided elimination Tuesday with their 101-76 win against the Atlanta Hawks. Orlando has forced the series back to Atlanta, where the Magic have yet to win this season (0-4 during regular season and postseason combined).

After shooting playoff record-low 8.7 percent (2-for-23) from three-point range in Game 4, Orlando rebounded to shoot 42.3 percent (11-for-26) from long distance in Game 5.

Orlando won despite a quiet game from Dwight Howard, who tied a playoff career-low by attempting just four shots. He finished with 8 points and 8 rebounds after recording a 20-15 game in each of the first four games of this series. He sat out all but one minute of the fourth quarter.

The Magic overcame the slow night from Howard due in large part to the strong performance from their bench. After totaling 69 points in the first four games of the series, the Magic bench combined for 49 points in Game 5.

Meanwhile, the Hawks did not get a typical performance from their star bench player, Jamal Crawford (8 points). Crawford had scored at least 20 points off the bench in each of the first four games of the series.

Odds against the Magic still remain long, however. In NBA playoff history, just eight teams have come back from a 3-1 series deficit to win. The Magic franchise has never done it and the Hawks franchise has never allowed it.

In other Eastern Conference action on Tuesday, the Chicago Bulls enjoyed their first playoff series win since 2007 by closing out the Indiana Pacers. It’s just Chicago’s second playoff series win since the 1998 NBA Finals.

Derrick Rose's sprained left ankle didn't seem to hamper him. After shooting 6-for-22 from the field in the Bulls' Game 4 loss, he found his stroke in Game 5, scoring 25 points on 8-of-17 shooting.

In the first four games of the series, Rose shot just 29.7 percent from the field when being guarded by Paul George, but shot 66.7 percent from the field against him in Game 5. During the Bulls' decisive 21-8 run over the last 5:52 of the third quarter Tuesday, nine of Rose's 10 points came against George, all from three-point range.

Rose wasn't the only one feeling it from downtown. The Bulls set a franchise playoff record by making 14 three-pointers (previous high: 13), 11 of which came in the second half. The Bulls led at halftime for the first time in the series and never trailed, though at one point the Pacers closed within four points.

In an odd occurrence, noted three-point specialist Kyle Korver dunked in the game. A pretty rare sight -- he had one dunk the entire regular season.

The Pacers have not won a playoff series since 2005.

The Denver Nuggets won their fourth straight game Wednesday night as Ty Lawson led six Nuggets in double figures with 20 points. The win bumped the Nuggets to 13-4 since trading Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups to the New York Knicks on February 22, the first day after the All-Star break. Denver, in seventh place in the Western Conference at the All-Star break, has quietly climbed to fifth and is arguably playing its best post-break basketball since 2005, when the Nuggets led all teams with a 25-4 record in the second half of the season.

One key to the Nuggets second-half surge has been their ability to protect their home court. Denver is 9-0 at the Pepsi Center after the All-Star break and is outscoring its opponents by 19.7 points per game over that span. Earlier this month, the Nuggets became the first team in NBA history to record three straight home wins by 30 more or points.

They have now topped the 100-point mark in each of their last seven games at home (all wins). The only other teams to win seven straight home games while reaching triple digits in each this season are the San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Hosting a 1st Round playoff series is not out of the question for the Nuggets, who trail the Oklahoma City Thunder by five games with eight games remaining in the race for the four-seed out West. Denver would need some help from Oklahoma City to catch the Thunder, but head-to-head matchups against Kevin Durant and crew on April 5 and April 8 could make things interesting.

Elsewhere in the NBA on Wednesday:

• The Atlanta Hawks knocked off the Orlando Magic by three in a meeting between teams likely to meet in the 1st Round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Hawks finish the season 3-1 vs the Magic, the first time they’ve won the season series vs Orlando since 2006-07.

• The Miami Heat beat the Washington Wizards 123-107 to stay two-and-a-half games behind the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference. The Heat are now 14-4 when playing on zero days’ rest this season. Only the Los Angeles Lakers (10-2) have a better record on no days’ rest.

• Carmelo Anthony scored 39 points to lead the Knicks past the New Jersey Nets. It was Anthony’s third straight game with at least 35 points. That’s tied with LaMarcus Aldridge and Monta Ellis for the longest streak of 35-point games in the NBA this season. It’s also tied for Anthony’s longest streak of 35-point games in his career.

Here’s how well things are going for the San Antonio Spurs.

On a night in which veterans Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili had games that would rank among the worst of their careers, they still beat the Los Angeles Lakers by 15 points, 97-82.

Duncan played 29 minutes and made just one shot, the most minutes he’s played in any of the half-dozen games in which he’s made just one basket or fewer. Ginobili was 3-for-12 from the field, his worst shooting night when taking that many shots in more than two years.

The Spurs shot 42.5 percent from the field, 28.1 percent from 3-point range, and 66.7 percent from the line. A quick check of Basketball-Reference.com shows they hadn’t won a game with that sort of statistical combination since beating the Phoenix Suns in November, 2005.

How did they win? It took a great effort from Tony Parker (San Antonio is 21-1 when he scores at least 15 points) and their defense. Los Angeles shot 35.4 percent from the field, the third time they've shot that badly against the Spurs in the 49 regular season games that Kobe Bryant has played against them. Bryant missed 13 straight shots, which according to Elias, is the worst run of misses he's had in any game in his career.

The Lakers have dropped three straight games by at least 15 points, one shy of their longest stretch ever, done in November 2007.

Kobe Bryant matched his worst shooting day of the season, but you can go 8-for-27 against the Minnesota Timberwolves (as he did on November 19) and still win. Not against these Spurs, who have won 11 straight home games.

Elsewhere in the NBA, the Dallas Mavericks 84-76 home loss to the Toronto Raptors may add fuel to Dirk Nowitzki's early MVP candidacy. The Mavericks outscore opponents by 13.3 points per 48 minutes with him on the floor, and get outscored by almost 14 points per 48 minutes with him off the floor. According to Elias, his plus-minus differential of 27.0 is the best in the NBA among qualifying players.

The Celtics and center Shaquille O’Neal got a win over the Indiana Pacers, but he fouled out for the second straight game, this time in just 16 minutes. He’s the first player to foul out of consecutive games, playing 16 minutes or fewer in each since Dan Gadzuric, in December 2008.

O’Neal’s former team, the Orlando Magic, got strong production from its bench, though one player’s value may have gone a bit unnoticed. On a night where Gilbert Arenas stole the headlines with 22 points and 11 assists, Ryan Anderson may have been the Magic’s most valuable man.

In 23 minutes, Anderson netted only six points in a 110-95 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, but Orlando outscored Cleveland by 27 points when he was on the floor. That’s noteworthy considering that Orlando had three starters who posted a negative plus-minus rating in this contest.

Speaking of valuable players, the best of the best was the Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade, who scored 40 points in a win over the New York Knicks. Wade has 18 games with at least 40 points over the last three seasons, matching LeBron James for most in the NBA.

Beckley Mason is Founder of the ESPN TrueHoop Network Blog HoopSpeak.com. You can also find him on Twitter here, and contributing his thoughts on basketball and jewelry commercials to Daily Dime Live.

The thing about stereotypes is that they endure long after any relationship to reality fades. Once opinion about a player is accepted as fact, it’s easy to reinforce prevailing perceptions with selective examples that obscure changes over time. For Dwight Howard, his rough offensive performance against the Boston Celtics on Christmas reawakened accusations that he is a jolly Philistine who can’t handle being pushed around; a terrifying defender who yet lacks the offensive skills common to NBA centers.

In reality, Howard has been steadily evolving since he entered the league, and it’s time to update this collective opinion.

It’s true that there have been noticeable additions to Dwight’s reputation this year, as Howard’s well-produced three days with Hakeem Olajuwon and his improved face-up jump shot have garnered praise. But the core narrative, that Howard operates primarily by brute force, remains intact.

It’s not hard to locate the source of this perception. His shoulders look like they might pop if they don’t first destroy his opposition’s sternum, and his terribly awkward free throw release is a singular example of public self-destruction. But his menacing upper body distracts from a relatively skinny base that cannot anchor Howard to the block like the thick legs of Tim Duncan. Indeed Howard’s most important attribute has never been his size and power (he's 6-foot-9 without shoes), but his leaping ability, lightning quick feet and mid-air body control.

By casting Howard as the brute force, we easily overlook all the thinking he does on the court. Over the last few seasons, Howard has become one of the league’s best big men at passing out of the double team. This can be hard to notice because of the offense in which he plays. Unlike the Lakers’ Pau Gasol, who feeds a steady carousel of cutters from the post, racking up assists that are easy to spot in a box score, Howard’s role is to make the hockey assist for his 3-point shooting teammates. When the Magic space the floor around Howard, often the wide open 3-point shot or closeout-busting drive will come two passes after Howard kicks the ball out of the double team. Howard may not tally the assist, but his decision making and ability to absorb a full double team before finding the right teammate on the perimeter are vital to his team’s success.

Defensively, Howard’s volleyball spike blocks are spectacular, but what’s truly impressive is the amount of times each game Howard contests an attacking player by trusting the principle of verticality and jumping straight up without attempting to swat the shot. The weakside blocks are a freakish display of explosiveness; the perfect rotations that result in missed shots are the result of a cerebral defensive approach. He also is one of the best in the league at hedging on screen-and-rolls. Howard was actually a guard for much of his childhood, and his lateral quickness on the perimeter remains impressive.

It can be hard to find where these improvements show up statistically. Since 2008 his scoring and field goal shooting percentages have remained fairly static while his assist to turnover rate unimpressively hangs around .33 assist to turnover ratio. However his usage percentage, an indicator of how many plays are being run through Howard, has climbed steadily during his career to a very respectable 28.6 percent. For perspective, Kobe Bryant currently owns the league’s highest Usage rate, 34.34 percent, and Dirk Nowitzki's is 28.4 percent. So the Magic are using Dwight just as much as the Mavericks employ Nowitzki’s offensive genius, but how many people believe Howard to be the offensive focal point that Nowitzki is?

I wouldn’t argue that Dwight is nearly as skilled or efficient a scorer as Dirk, but clearly Howard is not an offensive afterthought.

Even the storyline that Howard is particularly incapable of playing well against Boston is overblown. Over the last three games of the last season’s Eastern Conference finals against the Celtics, when Howard stopped kicking out and started attacking on his own, he personally demolished the Celtics’ front line to the tune of 27.0 points and 12.7 rebounds on 64.6 percent shooting.

Is Howard capable of putting up big numbers against the Celtics? Absolutely. Why do you think the Celtics picked up Shaq (who fouled out Saturday trying to keep up with Howard)? To match up with Joel Anthony?

Last night against the Nets’ Brook Lopez, who is significantly larger than Dwight, Howard got back on track, dominating the boards (13 rebounds to Brook’s seven), recording six blocks and leading a defensive effort that held the Nets to 39.7 percent shooting from the field. Howard made smart plays all over the court, using his feet to snuff out pick-and-rolls, getting in position to contest everything at the rim and creating offense for his entire team by forcing the Nets to double him.

Certainly Howard still has offensive limitations that should not be overlooked. His lack of lower body strength sometimes causes him to fight for position with his arms, which results in easily spotted, maddeningly cheap fouls off the ball and makes it hard for him to back in his man under the basket. It would also be great if the Magic team doctor could remove whatever it is in his arm (oh, it’s his enormous bicep?) that prevents him from extending his elbow when he shoots.

Understandably, these flaws aren’t doing anything to change people’s mind on Dwight. But in the interest of progress, next time you see that 6-foot-10 guy posing as Superman, try to keep an eye on all the plays he makes using the head on top of those cartoonish shoulders.

It took a little while to get going, but the additions of Gilbert Arenas, Hedo Turkoglu and Jason Richardson are now having the impact the Orlando Magic desired. The New Jersey Nets aren’t the best litmus test, but the Magic beat them handily on the road last night, 104-88, as the trio combined for 43 points.

Hedo Turkoglu has been impressive in this three-game run. He netted 20 more points on Monday, the third straight game in which he shot 50 percent or better from the field. Turkoglu was 3-for-15 in his first two games back with the Magic.

It also seems like guard J.J. Redick is comfortable with the team’s new additions. He scored 15 points Monday, his fourth straight game scoring in double figures.

This was the second straight game in which Redick did something significant. On Christmas Day, he hit a key shot on a rare isolation play in the final minute of the Magic’s rally against the Boston Celtics. In this game he was a team-best plus-23. Redick was aggressive early, going 3-for-6 from 3-point range in the first half. His 10 shots in the first two quarters were a team high. Redick had only attempted 10 or more shots in a game, seven times prior to Monday.

Elsewhere, with Dirk Nowitzki suffering a second-quarter knee injury, Shawn Marion stepped up scoring-wise for the Dallas Mavericks in their 103-93 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Marion was 10-for-29 in his previous three games, but 10-for-15 in this one.

That should help Marion, who entered shooting 43.9 percent from the field in December, avoid his worst shooting in a calendar month since he shot 43.4 percent in April, 2005 (minimum five games played). The Mavericks have won all seven games this season in which Marion scored at least 15 points.

Dallas became just the fifth team since the ABA-NBA merger to win 11 of its first 12 road games. Seven of their 11 road wins have been against teams with a winning record. The 2009-10 Celtics were the last team to start a season by winning 11 of its first 12 on the road. Prior to that, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last team to do so was the 1993-94 Houston Rockets.

Lastly, we have the statistical oddity of the night: Jason Maxiell played five minutes and 53 seconds in the Detroit Pistons 105-100 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats. In that time, the Pistons were outscored by 19 points.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Maxiell’s minus-19 is the worst plus-minus for any NBA player who played six minutes or fewer in a game this season, surpassing the minus-18 posted by Philadelphia 76ers center Spencer Hawes in a 123-116 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on November 5.

Our video review team took a closer look at the Miami Heat's 96-80 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Here's what they found to be the statistical keys to the game:

• The Heat had success running the pick and roll against the Lakers, scoring almost a third of their points off that play without committing a turnover. The player setting the screen was the key to that succcess. The screeners were a combined 6-for-9 from the field, headed by 3-for-4 from Chris Bosh.

• Bosh got a different sort of results in this contest. Typically, he'll make one basket per game from two feet and in. In this game, he made seven shots from that close, more than double his previous best (three) with the Heat. The key to that: five offensive rebounds on Saturday.


• Miami did an excellent job at limiting the Lakers in one-on-one situations. The Lakers entered averaging almost a point-per-play for each time they ran an isolation play. They ran 14 on Saturday, matching the number they typically run in a game, but scored just eight points.

• The Lakers could not make a shot from near the basket against the Heat defense. They entered the game shooting 63 percent from the field from inside five feet, but were just 19-for-39 (49 percent) from that range Saturday.

The keys to a few of the other Christmas wins ...

• With a two-point lead and under 45 seconds remaining, the Orlando Magic turned to J.J. Redick in an isolation situation. Redick responded by hitting a step back jumper, the biggest shot in a come-from-behind win over the Boston Celtics.


How rare was this for Redick?

Entering the Celtics game, the Magic had run just six isolation plays for Redick all season. He was 0-for-4 from the field, with his prior successes (three points scored) all coming at the free throw line.

• The New York Knicks utilized Mike D'Antoni's "seven seconds or less" style of offense style very effectively in their win over the Chicago Bulls. The Knicks shot 64 percent from the field and were 7-for-12 from 3-point range on possessions lasting seven seconds or less.

The Knicks also prevented Derrick Rose from having a difference-maker sort of game on the offensive end. The Knicks blocked four of his shots in the first quarter and blocked six of his shots for the game (21.5 percent of his shots overall). Rose entered the game only having 7.1 percent of his field goal attempts blocked. The extra blocks helped contribute to a bad shooting day from in-close for Rose. He was 5-for-18 from 10 feet or closer.

• The formula for the the Oklahoma City Thunder to beat the Denver Nuggets was a simple, tried-and-true one: Get the ball to Kevin Durant.

LeBron James may have had the better day, with a triple-double against the Lakers, but Durant caught him in one regard. Durant scored 21 points in the third quarter, tied for the second-most points by anyone in any quarter for either the Thunder or Supersonics in the last 20 seasons (Ray Allen had 22 points in the fourth quarter on January 23, 2007 vs the Nuggets).

Durant's 44 points gave him 13 career games of 40 or more. His nine in the last two seasons match James and Kobe Bryant for most in the NBA.

You see the improved Orlando stat line of Gilbert Arenas: 14 points, 6-14 on field-goals, nine assists, three turnovers, six rebounds and one steal in 29 minutes off the bench. But do you know the circumstances that created it? That's in comparison to 12 points on 3-17 shooting with seven assists, four turnovers and three rebounds in 44 total minutes over his first two games with the Magic. By the way, Orlando looked like the youthful contender taking down the fading dynasty last night, running a San Antonio Spurs team with the best winning percentage in the NBA out the gym 123-101.

And then all was calm in the Magic Kingdom, quelling for the moment festering Dwight Howard future free-agency concerns. Arenas and his newcomer cohorts, Hedo Turkoglu and Jason Richardson, combined for 40 points. Understandable that Gilbert would hate the cold weather of Washington, D.C. and relish the warmth of the Sunshine State on his aging joints and surgically repaired knee, but he didn’t have to make it so obvious with a newfound crispness in his game that barely glimmered as a Wizard this season. Arenas’ plus/minus of plus-21 was second to Turkoglu’s plus-24, but the ex-gun slinger was the protagonist of Orlando’s scoring boon and the ultimate win.

“I haven’t run in two years,” Arenas told TNT’s David Aldridge in his post game television interview. At the same time, not only could you tell he missed the days of yore, running alongside of Larry Hughes or DeShawn Stevenson in Eddie Jordan’s uptempo pro-style Princeton offense, but also that he appreciates the ability to do so more now because of one thing he’s never had. A Dwight Howard.

But it’s not always all about surface statistics, or even advanced statistics, or the feel-good story about how Arenas is now removed from his own Beltway Mentality. It’s also about the circumstance provided for him to boost his confidence and excel … thanks to the San Antonio Spurs, his teammates and the Stan Van Gundy charm.

Now, after all that, I’ll stop for a brief introduction. My name is Kyle Weidie. Normally you’ll find me covering the Washington Wizards as part of the TrueHoop Network at TruthAboutIt.net (name origin unrelated, yet all truth somehow is related, I suppose), but today I’m manning the controls of the mother ship. Hence, the discussion of Gilbert Arenas you’ve found yourself in. Don’t worry, it won’t be about current or ex-Wizards all day.

Arenas and Turkoglu first checked in with 2:24 remaining in the first quarter, Orlando was down 24-18 to San Antonio. With JJ Redick, Brandon Bass and Ryan Anderson, they out-scored the Spurs 10-2 to close out the period. Arenas ran the point, already picking up his first assist by the time his offensive number was initially called. Coming off a double screen, he nailed a wide open jumper just beyond the free-throw line. Antonio McDyess laid back and dared Arenas to shoot. Gilbert did. Almost 30 seconds later, Chris Quinn made the mistake of going behind the screen against Arenas. Three-pointer, 2-2 from the field. Was it really Gregg Popovich’s game plan to tempt the Hibachi flame?

Then, Arenas almost did the amazing. Orlando got the ball back at the far end with 0.8 seconds left in the first. He caught the inbounds pass ready to move and got a one-step running start to launch a 59-footer, not a two-handed chuck or a baseball throw, but in the form of a running jumper. It just rattled off the rim.

Arenas continued to run the point to start the second quarter, getting Magic off to a solid 12-8 start in the first 4:22. He patiently waited for teammates to get in the right places -- zipping a pass to Anderson for three, hitting Redick with a bounce pass on a back-door cut, seeing Dwight Howard for a lob dunk -- Arenas picked up his fourth assist in less than six total minutes of game action.

Jameer Nelson checked back in at the 7:38 mark and Arenas slid to the two. He found similar success, albeit against the mousy/spritely Quinn. Arenas bullied him with size to the block and rose above him to kiss a jumper off the glass as Howard cleared space. Another trip, Arenas posted Quinn on the left block and attracted defensive attention that great ball movement will exploit every time. He passed out of the post to Nelson, who swung the ball around the horn to Turkoglu, then to Jason Richardson, who drove the gap from the opposite baseline and lobbed it to Howard for a dunk. Just about as perfect as you can get for a bunch guys trying to get used to playing with each other, but we forget Gilbert and Hedo are talented passers as well.

Along with the friendly circumstance of Quinn’s defense and the cursory attention the Spurs tempted Arenas with when the ball in his hands, the circumstance of Nelson also played to Arenas’ favor. He’s much more apt to be a creating 2-guard next to a point guard who can shoot, and one who doesn’t always command a high usage percentage, as with Nelson under Van Gundy. John Wall wasn’t that. He and Arenas would have never truly worked.

Arenas got in trouble against San Antonio when he forced shots in precarious, off-balanced situations coming off screens. The whistles of referees have not favored him this season, so he’s not going draw those bump calls he used to get. He also might not have it in him anymore to hit jumpers without his legs under him. Arenas didn’t drive to the basket much in the first half either, looking more interested in creating for his teammates and hitting jumpers. The results are inarguable though, he finished with a plus/minus of plus-11 to go with 12 points, five assists, two turnovers and four rebounds after two quarters.

Arenas was called back into duty an early 67 seconds into the third when Nelson picked up his fourth foul. He immediately came off a double screen and hit another free-throw line jumper, San Antonio still intent on daring Arenas to hit dead-on, 15-footers for some reason. After that, he kept it simple -- fed his big man, got Anderson a trip to the free-throw line by skipping a pin-point bounce pass to him on a cut out of a 2-man game -- Arenas dropped his ninth dime on a swing pass softly into Brandon Bass’ hands for a jumper at the end of the period.

By the start of the fourth quarter, Orlando had built a 97-76 lead and Arenas provided a plus-21 in his time on the court. He showed some fatigue before checking out for good at the 8:34 mark, stumbling through some drives to the basket. Understandable since Arenas still isn’t in top shape, or more likely because he simply doesn’t have the legs for 29 fast-paced minutes. But by then, Orlando had the game in hand, holding off one push from San Antonio when they got within 14 with 6:32 left.

Arenas made a strong impression on the game. And as much as the new guys were able to find free-flowing offense together, it was Arenas’ handing of the point duties that went to further bury notions that he kills teams by jacking shots. But it was also the surrounding circumstances for Arenas -- the compatibility with Nelson, the embracing of finally playing with a true big man with the ball in his hands, the fleeting defense of the Spurs, the boosts of confidence from his coach's play-calling.

The jury is still out on the circumstance created by Otis Smith, he still needs to find that backup big man. Now Van Gundy is the primary manipulator of the circumstances, at least those he can control. At one moment he’s said to be leaving notes on Arenas locker room chair -- no, it didn’t say “Pick one.” Rather, “Go out there and play your game.” It’s Van Gundy who might have to pick one, as some have started stirring the controversy of Arenas versus Nelson in the starting lineup. Arenas actually may be better suited expending his energy with a change of pace and scoring punch off the bench, but know that he and Nelson can work together with Howard behind them to defend.

The circumstances beyond grasp won’t always be the same as the blowout of the Spurs anomaly. What happens when Orlando faces a bruising Boston team with more size? Cue why, despite grumblings from players and coaches, Christmas Day games are so fun. Sure, there's the glamour matchup of the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers. But the prelude of Boston at Orlando could be just as intriguing, especially if the circumstance calls for breaking out the Hibachi on a warm Florida December 25 afternoon.

The Phoenix Suns-Orlando Magic deal (Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat, Mickael Pietrus, a 2011 first-round pick and cash considerations for Hedo Turkoglu, Jason Richardson and Earl Clark) seems to benefit both teams. At this point, 29-year old Richardson could be seen as an upgrade over Carter, who at 33 is having the worst season of his career. Richardson is shooting 42 percent from 3-point range and can spread the floor like Rashard Lewis, who was shipped to Washington for Gilbert Arenas.

But the most exciting piece for Magic fans may be the return of Turkoglu. The 6-10 small forward had the best years of his career while in Orlando from 2004-2009. He averaged 16.8 points in helping the Magic reach the 2009 NBA Finals before signing with Toronto as a free agent.

After struggling badly in Toronto, Turkoglu was traded to Phoenix, where he also failed to reach the level he played at in Orlando.

The Magic haven't been the same without Turkoglu either. His playmaking ability has been sorely missed.

For Phoenix, Gortat was the biggest basketball piece. The 6-11 center has been dying for more playing time while backing up Dwight Howard. Viewed as a starting caliber big man throughout the league, he'll finally get his shot in Phoenix. It was a nice addition for the Suns, who are currently the second-worst rebounding team in the league.

Carter, who could experience an uptick in the Suns' wide-open system, can adequately replace Richardson, and Pietrus brings attitude, defense and 3-point shooting.

Only about $4 million of Carter's $18 million salary for next season is guaranteed, and Pietrus has a player option worth $5.3 million next season.