Featured Matchup: Magic’s Nikola Vucevic vs. Rockets’ Dwight Howard

The Orlando Magic found a way to begin to address several issues in an impressive 121-114 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Monday night (Jan 12). The Rockets currently sit at No. 3 in the West and are 14-5 on the road this season.

Orlando has struggled to defend its home court, having won just 4 of 16 contests at the Amway arena. NBA odds as of early afternoon showed the Rockets as 9-point favorites in the contest.

Can the Magic win a contest it finds itself heavy underdogs in at home?

There’s a lot of reason to believe that can be the case given the strong play of the Magic’s backcourt defensively, but the focus of this matchup will be on two centers whose career paths may forever be intimately intertwined.

Featured Matchup: Center: Dwight Howard vs. Nikola Vucevic

Dwight Howard was at one time the center piece and pride and joy of an era in Orlando Magic basketball. He led the team to the NBA Finals in 2010. Howard won Defensive Player of the Year three times in a row, and asserted himself as the undisputed best center in the league.

But those times are over, and Howard is not the dominant force he was in Orlando. To be sure, No .12 is still very dominant, and the Houston Rockets are seated No. 3 in the West at the moment. And the Magic are in the midst of a rebuild, one that hasn’t gone quickly. But the main piece in the Howard trade has fared about as well as Dwight himself thus far this season.

That man is, of course, Nikola Vucevic. He’s beginning to garner more respect around the league and has an outside chance of being a coaches’ selection to the All-Star team this February. But those accolades will come eventually for Vuc.

At the moment, the focus remains on refining Vuc’s footwork in such a manner as to maximize his very soft, feathery touch around the basket. He did so in the win over Chicago on Monday night, using his spin moves and baby hooks to go 16 of 24 from the floor en route to 33 points. While he has yet to reach Howard-levels of rebounding, Vucevic does rank 6th in the league with over 11 boards per game.

But the biggest similarity is one we are just beginning to see: The Magic are running its offense through Vucevic in much the way the team did with Howard. The primary difference at this point is that the perimeter is not stacked with guys that can spot up. Oladipo, Fournier and Frye all have the touch, but it’s not the same as Hedo Turkoglu, Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis.

It just isn’t.

And at this point, the Magic’s best hope relies on Elfrid Payton and Vucevic creating and setting up teammates.

Kyle O’Quinn is an adept high post passer too. Enhancing the off ball movement of Oladipo is the passing of these temmates, and Vucevic role is crucial. He has to keep his turnovers down and make good decisions to keep himself the primary option, because make no mistake, he will be doubled a lot

But that may not happen too much tonight. Howard is capable of covering Vucevic solo, but the Magic need to go at Howard to get him in foul trouble. He is Houston’s last line of defense at the rim, though the Rockets are a very good defensive team, ranking 3rd in defensive rating.

James Harden will go hard at the rim as he does every game, and that may put Vucevic in danger of picking up fouls as well. Harden can’t just be left to score, because he will. He’s the x-factor in Houston, in getting the team quickly into the penalty and getting opposing bigs in foul trouble.

If Vucevic and O’Quinn can avoid foul trouble, this game may be far less than the nine point spread set for it. It’s a stretch to think the Magic could win, but with the dominance Vucevic has shown, along with the relentless attack of Oladipo, Orlando could sneak one out tonight.