PHILADELPHIA – Dwight Howard can trade the keyboard for hitting the boards. Orlando’s big man can play again in the next round of the NBA playoffs.
On a night the suspended Howard recorded a double-double in blog and Twitter posts from his hotel room, the Magic advanced to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 114-89 in Game 6 on Thursday.
He wrote on a postgame blog, “im soo proud man. yall have no clue.”
Thankfully for the Magic, their shooting was more accurate than Howard’s grammar.
“The only thing I said in the locker room before the game was, ‘Be great,’ ” coach Stan Van Gundy said. “They wanted to prove something. They have great appreciation in that we would be where we are without Dwight.”
Playing without Howard and injured guard Courtney Lee, the Magic thumped the Sixers from the start. Howard, who was suspended one game by the NBA for his elbow on Sixers center Samuel Dalembert in Game 5, will return when the Magic play the winner of the Boston-Chicago series.
For a game at least, the Magic didn’t need their Superman.
“They’re actually better without Dwight Howard,” Sixers guard Andre Miller said. “One of their players told me that they were better without Dwight Howard. They said the ball moves quicker. They’re not standing around a lot.”
Rashard Lewis scored 29 points and Rafer Alston had 21. The Magic made 12 of their first 19 shots.
Howard watched the game with family and friends who had made the trip to watch him play. Instead, they got to watch him type. And misspell.
An early blog post read, “lets cheer my boys on goo magic.”
Alston hit two 3-pointers during the Magic’s fast start that put them up 15 and quickly negated the home crowd. J.J. Redick made all three 3-point attempts in the first half and ably filled in for Lee.
Lee, knocked out of the series by Howard’s elbow to the head, had surgery on his fractured sinus Thursday and Van Gundy said it was possible the guard would be out two more weeks.
Rockets advance
HOUSTON – For the first time in 12 years, the Houston Rockets advanced in the NBA playoffs.
Ron Artest scored 27 points, Yao Ming had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Houston reached the second round for the first time since 1997, beating the Portland Trail Blazers 92-76 in Game 6 on Thursday night.
Aaron Brooks scored 13 points and Shane Batter tied a career playoff-high with nine rebounds as the Rockets won for the first time in their last seven first-round series. They lost Game 6s the last two seasons to Utah.
Houston put this one away with a big second quarter and plays the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers on Monday at Staples Center. The Lakers won all four meetings of the regular season.