Dwight Howard was fine $35,000 for comments that he made on his ...","articleSection":"","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Andrew Melnick","url":"https://orlandomagicdaily.com/author/andrewmelnick/"}}

Orlando Magic News & Notes: Dwight Howard Fined, Magic Will Scrimmage

Dwight Howard was fine $35,000 for comments that he made on his blog.

"Blogging is getting expensive for Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard in his running battle with NBA referees.Howard was fined $35,000 by the NBA on Wednesday for comments he made in his blog on DwightHoward.com about officiating and calls made against him in the Magic’s first-round series against the Charlotte Bobcats.Howard fouled out of the last two games, but he was limited to about 26 minutes in the four games and averaged just 9.8. points and 9 3 rebounds per game."

Brian Schmitz has that story here.

You can read Howard’s comments on his blog here.

According to fans on George Diaz’s blog, Howard should “shush up and play.”

"Maybe a hypnotic trance would help stop all the rattling that’s going on in Howard’s brain. It has to be very frustrating to watch your world unravel. Yes, some of the calls have been cheesy, but resistance is futile. Bad calls are part of the order of the universe, just like continuous reruns of Law & Order.It’s amazing that the Magic swept the Charlotte Bobcats despite Howard’s cameo role. He played an average of just 26 minutes. He committed 22 fouls in four games. Yet he finished with 20 blocks — only three shy of the all-time playoff record for a four-game series.Howard can’t afford to be an accidental tourist, passing through the rest of the playoffs."

You can find that story here.

The Magic are going to scrimmage to simulate game conditions.

"Unable to put their full concentration toward a single opponent, the Magic have no choice but to go back to training-camp conditions.“You can’t lock in on one team. You don’t know who you’re going to play,” coach Stan Van Gundy said Wednesday. “We’re going to turn on the clock and get up and down the floor. It’s going to be a lot like training camp.“We’re going to get guys’ minutes up there and keep their conditioning at a high level. We need to try to keep a rhythm of playing.”"

You can find that story here.

Whether it’s the Bucks or the Hawks win their series, neither team should be able to foul Howard like Charlotte did.

"The Bucks lost their starting center and lack a supply of big Bobcat-like bodies to agitate him.The Hawks need their center to score and, presumably, can’t have him fouling Howard willy-nilly.“I think that’s right,” coach Stan Van Gundy said on Wednesday. “I don’t think they can take that approach.”"

You can find that story here.

Magic Owner Rich DeVos is very happy with the team.

"He sees kids’ basketball teams being honored at midcourt during timeouts, church choir groups singing the national anthem and teenagers scurrying in the stands for t-shirts shot out from those cannons. But mostly, DeVos – a family man’s man – sees dads and daughters interacting, husbands and wives smooching on the kiss cam and grandfathers talking basketball with their grandsons.It’s moments like these that DeVos is delighted to be the owner and steward to Orlando’s deepest-rooted, longest-lasting professional franchise. The man’s rise to power is the stuff of legend and his wealth is enormous, but knowing that his pro basketball franchise has brought so much joy to those in Central Florida means the world to DeVos.“Look at this crowd, they’re all having fun,’’ DeVos said during a recent game as he peered across the stands. “It’s husbands and wives and kids and there are no drunks in here. It’s fun for families and that means a lot to me.“I’ve always wanted to use this team for the kids in this area,’’ DeVos continued. “I sit up here and I see all the kids being honored before the game and if I wasn’t here or this team wasn’t here, that might not be happening. We’ve always tried to make this a place available to kids and families and to make this community a better place to live.’’"

John Denton has that story here.

Ben Q. Rock of Orlando Pinstriped Post takes a look back at the Magic’s first round series with the Bobcats. He examines Dwight Howard’s performance and takes a look back at Orlando’s bench.

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, a contributor on the Fansided Front Page and at Sir Charles In Charge. Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Twitter to follow him daily and you can get the HTD app here).