Dwight Howard misses Denver Nuggets game due to a back spasm - NBA Update
Dwight Howard sat out the Sunday night game for the 1st time in this season due to a back spasm. Orlando Magic hosted the match against Denver Nuggets without their Superman and eventually lost 104-101.
Glen Davis substituted Howard in the game, playing for a season high 37 minutes and collected a career high 16 boards. He also tallied 18 points but clearly couldn’t assume the superman’s role.
Magic coach Stan Van Gundy revealed that Howard received the spasm after being punched in the lower back by Brendan Haywood. The Dallas Mavericks’ centre however refused to accept such allegations. He said that he was unaware of
any foul play.
"Man, I don't know what's wrong with Stan," Haywood said Sunday."Stan's going to say what Stan wants to say. We don't gotta play them no more. The game's over with. I think Dwight caught me with more shots than I caught him. He's
the most physical player in the league. So it is what it is. Stan made his comment. I haven't got a call from anybody [in the league office], so I guess nobody's listening."
Van Gundy didn’t exactly say that when he was punched by Haywood but he kept on reiterating about the incident, he went on saying that Dwight was punched twice.
“It's really ridiculous and I want to get it on film and send it in (to the league office)," Van Gundy said. "Haywood just punched him literally with a closed fist right in the back. So (Howard) got through the game because he
was loose, but then it really tightened up”.
Mavs coach Rick Carlisle also said that he has looked into the matter and the staff didn’t find any such incident in the game’s video.
NBA has punitive rules for such offense that can result into a fine up to $35,000 or suspension can be imposed upon such person by the commissioner at his discretion. But in this case Magic are not expecting a favourable outcome.
They have sent the video to league office for review and are due an answer in 14 days.
Dwight rarely misses a game due to an injury. He played all 82 regular season games in 5 of his 7 previous seasons. D-12 missed 3 games to a sore knee in 2008-9 seasons while he sat out 2 in the last season due to stomach virus.
Now he has missed his 1st in this season due to back spasm caused by an ostensible punch.
The 6-foot-11 centre has been averaging 20.9 points and is famous for his dominating rebounding, 14.5 per game. His importance in the team is unquestionable as he started all 52 games played for Magic.
However, he is expected to recover before Orlando’s next endeavour on Tuesday against Detroit Pistons.
Tags: