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After Tuesday night's painful loss to the Boston Celtics, Dwight Howard called out Stan Van Gundy for not getting the big man enough touches. Was he right? Here's a look at Howard's touches by quarter, per ESPN Stats and Information:
1st quarter: 9 touches, 7 in paint
2nd quarter: 5 touches, 5 in paint
3rd quarter: 5 touches, 3 in paint
4th quarter: 3 touches, 2 in paint
Total: 22 touches, 17 in paint
Howard touched the ball just once in the final 6:50, and that was with 5.9 seconds left when the Celtics immediately fouled him. I think it's safe to say Howard had a point in his post-game press conference.
Against the Celtics, the Magic can't run their offense through Howard in the post like they can against other teams, because Howard can't consistently beat Kendrick Perkins one-on-one. But you can't ignore Howard, and there are other ways to get him the ball. When they run the pick-and-roll, it would make sense to occasionally hit Howard while he's rolling.
We saw Rashard Lewis and Rafer Alston miss multiple outside jumpers during Boston's famous 13-0 run. Hedo Turkoglu missed an outside shot. Perkins provides a lot of resistance to Howard, but he doesn't shut him down. Let's hope the lesson is learned for Game 6.
UPDATE: Here is a breakdown of Howard's touches throughout the series. Notice the dip in the fourth quarter. Clearly, when the Magic need to score, they don't have trust in Howard. It's more than just free throws.
1st quarter: 37 touches, 27 in paint
2nd quarter: 34 touches, 32 in paint
3rd quarter: 37 touches, 28 in paint
4th quarter: 16 touches, 12 in paint
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