11-02-2008, 05:00 PM
ORLANDO, Fla. – The sheer force of Dwight Howard doesn't take plays off, especially when his opponents have the youth and relative frailty that make them so vulnerable to his ways.So the Orlando center did what he so often does against the Kings on Saturday night at Amway Arena, moving large men as if they were cardboard boxes.Midway through the fourth quarter of the Magic's 121-103 win, Kings forward Shelden Williams headed to the bench with his pride intact. Williams had played with enough edge and smarts to agitate the 22-year-old Howard, but he had been replaced by rookie forward Jason Thompson.The clinic, in other words, would resume.Thompson scraped and scrapped in the post but could not avoid being dunked on. One possession later, Howard scored on second-year center Spencer Hawes, just one of his many dominant moments in a 29-point, 14-rebound outing that helped drop the Kings to 0-3."I think we did a good job of just playing the game and having fun," Howard said after his team's first victory. "I don't think there were too many times tonight where you saw coach (Stan Van Gundy) yelling and jumping and screaming. It was good tonight for us to get a win."The Kings could relate. Though they lost their third game on this four-game trip, they were relieved to look like an actual NBA team again. Veteran guard Bobby Jackson belabored the point afterward, saying the Kings looked "way better – way, way better" than they had in Friday night's debacle in Miami.Kings coach Reggie Theus reflected the improved state of affairs, even cracking a sincere smile late in the fourth quarter, when his team gave up four three-pointers that negated their own 68.8 percent shooting (11 of 16) for the period and failed to trim the lead to single digits. After a 26-turnover charity event against Miami, the Kings committed 12 against the Magic.Struggling shooting guard Kevin Martin rediscovered his scoring touch with a 31-point effort. If not for early foul trouble for Hawes and Thompson that hindered the rebounding and defense, Theus' team might have come closer to handing the Magic an unfathomable 0-3 start after losses to Atlanta and Memphis.Theus, who said before tipoff he had confidence in his team's ability to bounce back from a competitive standpoint, ended the night satisfied with almost everything but the outcome."I thought we had a much better effort tonight," he said. "(It) was so much more focused, and (the Kings) really moved in the right direction. … Obviously, Dwight is just big down there. (He's) strong, and he causes a lot of problems."Not that the Kings don't have enough of their own. Martin, for one, had become the early concern no one saw coming. But after making just 7 of 27 shots in the first two games, he was 11 of 20 overall and 3 of 6 from three-point range.Martin admitted succumbing to frustration in the first two games, partly because his shot was off but also because of the officiating. He averaged 9.4 free-throw attempts last season, but the contact that used to bring trips to the line wasn't drawing the whistles. The only choice, Martin said, was to adjust."I have to get to the hole with more force and not be expecting the call," he said. "The last couple of games, I've been very (ticked) off, and Reggie told me to calm down a little bit from getting on (the officials). I just have to adjust to it and go from there."
The Kings' John Salmons passes around the Magic's Dwight Howard, who proved unstoppable inside with 29 points and 14 rebounds as Orlando won for the first time this season.
Posted on Sat, 01 Nov 2008 23:00:00 PST at http://www.sacbee.com/kings/story/1363929.html
Author: samick@sacbee.com (Sam Amick)