Notes On Dwight Howard’s MVP Candidacy

These were handed down by Joel Glass of the Orlando Magic:

"1.      As of Mar. 31, Dwight Howard, the NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week an NBA-high six times this season, ranks in the NBA’s top 10 in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots and FG percentage. If he finishes the season the same way, he would become just the 10th player in NBA history to finish in the top 10 in each of those categories, joining the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan, Bob McAdoo, David Robinson, Bob Lanier, Artis Gilmore, Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon.2.      On Mar. 1 vs. New York, Dwight Howard, at 25 years and 83 days old, became the youngest player in NBA history to amass 7,000 career rebounds. He passed Wilt Chamberlain, who was 26 years and 128 days old when he passed the 7,000 rebound plateau.3.      On Mar. 13 @ Phoenix, Dwight Howard, at 25 years and 95 days old, became the fifth-youngest player in NBA history to reach 10,000 career points.4.      Dwight Howard has now recorded at least 1,000 rebounds and 100 blocked shots in each of the last six seasons. Since blocked shots were officially tracked in 1973-74, only Moses Malone has done it more (seven seasons)U 5.      On Nov. 18 vs. Phoenix, Orlando’s Dwight Howard played in his 500th career NBA regular season game. According to ESPN.com, Howard became one of only five players in NBA history since blocked shots became an official statistic in 1973-74 to record at least 6,000 rebounds and 1,000 blocked shots (6,310 rebounds/1,071 blocks) at his 500th career outing6.      Dwight Howard recorded a season-high eight blocked shots (Uincluding six in the third quarter, setting a new franchise record for blocks in a quarterU) on Nov. 3 vs. Minnesota. That marks the fourth time since the start of the 2008-09 season that Howard has recorded eight-or-more blocked shots in a gameU, including his career-high of 10 blocks on Nov. 12, 2008 @ Oklahoma City. UNo other player in the NBA has had multiple games of eight-or-more blocks during that same spanU. The team record for most blocks in a game is 15, set by Shaquille O’Neal on Nov. 20, 1993 @ New Jersey.7.      Since joining the Magic in 2004-05, Dwight Howard has recorded three-or-more blocks in a game 189 times (27 this season). Orlando is 132-57 (.698) in those outings, including 19-8 this season. The Magic are 194-178 (.522) when he blocks two-or-fewer shots. 8.      Since 2006-07, Dwight Howard has recorded at least 10 rebounds and two blocked shots in the same game 231 times (including 48 times this season), by far the most in the NBA during that span. Taking it a step further, since 2008-09, Dwight Howard has recorded at least 15 rebounds and five blocked shots in the same game 22 times (six this season). The next closest players are Marcus Camby and Andrew Bogut with six each.9.      Dwight Howard consistently lives up to his nickname of “The Daily Double,” racking up a double-double nearly every time he hits the floor. Howard has 62 double-doubles this season (second in the NBA) and now has 410 double-doubles during his career (the most in the NBA since he entered the league in 2004-05)U. In 2009-10, he recorded 64 double-doubles, which led the NBA. Howard set the club record for most double-doubles in a season in 2007-08 with an NBA-best 69.10.  Dwight Howard has recorded a franchise-record 32 straight double-doubles (Jan. 21-present), averaging 24.6 ppg. and 15.7 rpg. (786 points, 501 rebounds). Howard broke his own team record for most consecutive games with a double-double. He had 20 consecutive double-doubles from Jan. 15-Feb. 26, 2010. Howard tallied at least 20+ points and 10+ rebounds in 11 straight games (Feb. 4-Mar. 1), the longest such streak of his NBA career and tied for the second-longest streak in the NBA during the last 10 seasons (Griffin, 14, 2010-11; Garnett, 11, 2002-03). Howard also recorded 30+ points and 10+ boards in four straight contests from Feb. 13-25, averaging 33.5 ppg. and 13.8 rpg. (134 points, 55 rebounds) during that span.11.  Dwight Howard has recorded a 20-point/20-rebound game 32 times during his NBA career, including six times this season (three 20/20’s in 2009-10). He ranks second among all active players in the NBA (Shaquille O’Neal, 34). The next closest player to Howard is Boston’s Kevin Garnett, who has eight. On Jan. 30 vs. Cleveland, Howard tallied 20 points and 20 boards in just three quarters of play.  It marks the third time during Howard’s career that he has attained a 20/20 game by the end of the third quarter. No other player has done this even once during the past six NBA seasons. Howard also has 48 career games with 20-or-more rebounds, including eight times this season (nine last season. On Feb. 11 vs. New Orleans, Howard notched 20 points and 17 rebounds. According to Elias, he became just the fourth active player to record 100 or more games with 20+ points and 15+ rebounds. Howard joined Shaquille O’Neal (215), Tim Duncan (162) and Kevin Garnett (153).12.  Dwight Howard recorded three consecutive games with 20+ rebounds from Dec. 18-21. It marks just the second time in his career that he has accomplished the feat (Dec. 28-31, 2007). The last player with 20+ rebounds in four straight games was Ben Wallace, who had five consecutive 20+ rebound outings, from Mar. 12-20, 2003.13.  Howard tallied a season-high 40 points and 15 rebounds on both Jan. 28 @ Chicago and Feb. 25 vs. Oklahoma City. UDuring the last three-plus seasons (2007-08 to present), Dwight Howard has tallied 30+ points and 15+ rebounds 30 times (10 times this season)U  Howard has also recorded five games during his career with 30+ points and 20+ rebounds, including his 31-point/22-rebound performance on Mar. 16 @ Milwaukee.14.  On Jan. 28 @ Chicago, Dwight Howard tallied 40 points, 15 rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots. He became just the fourth player in the last 15 years (since 1996-97) to record at least 40 points, 15 rebounds, three steals and three blocks in a single game. On Feb. 25 vs. Oklahoma City, Dwight Howard tallied 40 points, 15 rebounds and six blocked shots. According to Elias, Howard was also the last NBA player to record at least 40 points, 15 rebounds and six blocks in a single game, accomplishing the feat back on Feb. 17, 2009 vs. Charlotte (45 points, 19 rebounds, 8 blocks). The last player other than Howard to record those numbers were Shaquille O’Neal, back on Nov. 19, 1999 vs. Chicago (41 points, 17 rebounds, 7 blocks). Howard became only the sixth player in NBA history to have multiple games of 40+ points, 15+ rebounds and at least six blocks during his career – the others are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Patrick Ewing, Bob Lanier, Bob McAdoo and Larry Nance.15.  On Dec. 9 @ Portland, Dwight Howard scored 18 points during the first quarter alone (7-9 FG, 4-4 FT). That tied his career-high for most points during a first quarter (or any quarter for that matter). Howard has now scored 18 points during the opening stanza four times (three during regular season, once in playoffs), the last time on Mar. 18, 2009 @ Milwaukee (also scored 18 points in the first quarter on May 6, 2010 vs. Atlanta during the playoffs). On Feb. 25 vs. Oklahoma City, Howard scored 10 points in each quarter, marking the first time during his NBA career that he has recorded 10+ points in all four quarters.16.  On March 21 @ Cleveland, Dwight Howard recorded 28 points, 18 rebounds, four blocks, four assists and four steals. According to ESPN, Howard became the first player since Hakeem Olajuwon over 21 years ago to record those numbers in a game. Olajuwon tallied 29 points, 18 rebounds, 11 blocks, 10 assists and five steals on March 3, 1990 in a victory over Golden State."

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and ESPN 1080’s Magic Insider (http://espn1080.com). Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here).