ORL vs. PHI

SVG and Dwight Howard both have agreed to focus solely on the game and not on anything else brewing up in the locker room.  This contraversy they describe as trying to ignore is most likely a big reason why Dwight Howard played very poorly on defense and struggled shooting, going 4/8 with 8 points and 8 rebounds in the Knicks rout of the Magic 96-80 on Thursday night.  Dwight, SVG and the Orlando Magic now have to take on the task of the Philadelphia 76ers, in Philadelphia, and need to step it up today, especially with the playoffs looming and their recent drop in standings and playing.  The Orlando Magic played the Knicks game in the Amway Center without star power forward Ryan Anderson, who is a huge part of their offense and rebounding game, and had a dismal and embarrassing game out of Dwight Howard as well, who averaged 20 points and 14 rebounds before that performance.  Anderson is questionable yet hopeful for his return tonight against the Sixers, but the Magic must deal with another loss.  Hedo Turkoglu, who was elbowed in the face as Carmelo Anthony came down with a rebound Thursday night, will undergo surgery on a facial fracture and will miss the final three weeks of the season.  This is huge for the Magic, even though Turkoglu has had a sub-par season, averaging only 10.7 PPG and 4.5 APG, much lower than last season or the standout season that he and Howard led the Magic to the NBA Finals, but this also means one of their starters is out, changing their game plan and making a huge impact out on the court, though Glen "Big Baby" Davis is playing superb basketball in place of the injured Anderson and may play much more from that and the new Turkoglu injury.  Not only injury woes, the Magic are not very good at playing against good defensive teams, the most recent was their blowout loss to the Chicago Bulls, where they only scored 59 points, and the Sixers are the number one team in defensive points allowed (88.2 PPG).  On the other side of the argument though, the Sixers went from leading the Atlantic division to now being one game behind the Boston Celtics for the division lead, and also have dropped from fourth in standings in the conference to seventh, behind the Magic by 3 1/2 games.  Both teams have something to play for, especially with playoffs looming right around the corner, and I think both teams will step up tonight, and tonight could be a turning point for one or both of these teams.

Prediction: Magic by 4