Orlando Magic star Dwight Howard might sit out for the remainder of regular season – NBA Update
Orlando Magic`s superstar Dwight Howard has been ruled out of the game against the Atlanta Hawks set to take place on Friday, and he is likely to sit out the remainder of the current NBA season. The perennial All-Star centre who
has been suffering from back spasm has found it very hard to even get some practice in.
Howard’s back was injured around three weeks ago in murky circumstances, with Stan Van Gundy claiming that Dallas Mavericks centre Brendon Haywood punched the ‘Superman’ twice in the back. That claim was denied by both Haywood
and the Mavs, but the fact of the matter is that being renowned as the most physical player in the NBA, has started to take its toll on his back.
Howard, who mostly relies on dominance through his physical presence to get to the rim, has found it very hard recently to put up the same effort night-in, night-out.
``I just have to stay on top of it,’’ Howard continued as reported by OrlandoMagic.com. ``The way that I play it was bound to happen. Not major back problems, but being in the post you get hit in the back a lot. I’m a physical
player, so a lot of players hit me in my back a lot. Somebody who jumps a lot, after a while it starts to wear on their body.’’
Howard has been going under a variety of massages and therapies in an effort to get back to full fitness, but he is still sure if he would be able to make a full recovery. He also went on to add that his main focus now is to return
healthy in the playoffs.
“I have to do all of the things to take care of the rest of my body so that my back is strong,’’ he said. ``It’s day-to-day right now. Some days it feels better than others. There’s really nothing I can do about it but continue
to do all of the things in the training room. I’m doing extra work at home, but I have to stay on top of this and not let it get bad.’’
This puts the Magic, in a tricky situation as they are desperately trying to chase down the third spot in the Eastern Conference. But recent injuries to players like Howard and Hedo Turkoglu have put a dent in their chances. Howard
has missed six games recently and his presence has been missed by the Magic as they have lost 4 of them.
With Howard focusing on the playoffs and not likely to return for the remainder of the season, Magic could slipup in the seedings and will have to live with the fact of having to play the post-season without having home court advantage.
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