The Orlando Magic got embarrassed last night by the New Orleans Hornets and walked off the court down 93-67. Dwight Howard, the center of trade-rumors, once again had a stellar game with 28 points and 16 rebounds, but no other Magic player scored over ten points.
This pathetic showing by the Magic comes off a loss to the Boston Celtics in a game in which they were once ahead by 27 points. The Magic started of the season of extremely well, but these last two deficits have been hard to swallow for fans. Still, Howard will not accept teammates who do not come to play and let them know that during half-time, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
“Looked like guys didn’t want to play,” he said. “I told them at halftime, if you don’t want to play, just stay in the lockerroom. It doesn’t make sense for a teams we should beat to just demolish us.”
Howard is going to play his hardest each and every night, and expect him to put up amazing numbers. Although Howard had another double-double, his teammates were not on the same level as him. If Orlando Magic GM Otis Smith wants to convince Howard that the team has enough to win a championship, he should throw away the tape of this game.
“It hurts me to get out there and play your hardest. I expect everybody to play the same. I’m not calling anybody out by no means because we all have to get better … but if you don’t want to be out there, don’t dress up,” Howard said.
If Howard is not happy with the way things are going with the Magic, he could be shipped very soon. Even though Smith has the final say as to with whom the trade happens with, Howard has enough power to get it done when he pleases.
