Surprisingly, there may not be a person more supportive of Dwight Howard this year than his former coach Stan Van Gundy.

As Dwight Howard prepares to return to Orlando for the first time since his trade in August and his unofficial departure in April following the whole Stan Van Gundy press conference where Van Gundy aired dirty laundry and so on and so forth. We know that story.

Stan Van Gundy knows where things should be and gives everything proper perspective. So, unlike many fans, he is looking at Dwight's return with a little more positivity than many fans, as he tells Jeff Zillgitt of USA TODAY:

I thought we had really good chemistry on the floor and really played well together. Off the floor, guys really liked each other and had fun. I don't think they always liked me and me pushing and yelling and screaming, but they like each other a lot. They certainly enjoyed the success they were having. It was a good time here in Orlando for most of it, especially the first three years I was here."

Without doubt, Howard's eight-year tenure in Orlando included the most successful run in the team's history. The Magic won three consecutive division titles, went out of the first round for the first time in 12 years, went to the NBA Finals in 2009 and the Eastern Conference Finals in 2010. The Magic teams were perhaps the best in the franchise's history and were a lot of fun to watch.

It is difficult to remember the good times. Any time you bring up the prospect of retiring Howard's jersey eventually, it brings up fans' ire. The wound is still very fresh.

By all means, Magic fans have a right to boo Howard and let him know how they feel about his departure and the way it was handled. His apology seems too little, too late.

Eventually though, we will all get to the point where we can remember all the good Howard did in Orlando. And there was a lot, both on and off the court. When time passes, it will be easier to reflect on that. It will be easier to recognize all the team success he achieved and all the individual success -- which includes the franchise's all-time marks in scoring and rebounding and three Defensive Player of the Year awards.

Right now, Magic fans are acting on raw emotion.

It is somewhat to be expected considering the Magic have dropped to the second worst record in the NBA. Still, things could be going much worse when it comes to attendance and TV ratings.

Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel reports both attendance at the Amway Center and TV ratings have dropped this season, but that Magic officials are still optimistic about the business side of the franchise. Ticket renewals are on the same pace as last year and ultimately they know winning will cure many of these woes.

At the end of the day over the long haul, it's all about wins and losses," Magic CEO Alex Martins said. "We like to say in our business that the hot dogs taste better and the beer is colder and the popcorn is fresher with more wins.

"But if we take a proactive approach to our business, if we continue to focus on [giving customers value for their money], if we continue to utilize this building for all the amenities that it has, it allows us to continue to have strong business in times of transition like we're going through this year.

The Magic are averaging 17,529 fans per game in paid attendance through 34 home games. The full capacity is 18,846 meaning on average the stadium is 93.0 percent full. There have been seven sellouts so far. And the next three games should be sell outs with the Lakers coming to town Tuesday and then the Thunder and Heat in the next two home games in a few weeks.

Of course, paid attendance is very different than the number of people who show up.

More expected and maybe concerning is the sharp decrease in television ratings. According to Robbins, the team has seen a 54 percent decrease in its television viewership. The Magic even were passing out magnet schedules for the final two months of games with the Bright House channels for Fox Sports Florida and Fox Sports Florida HD.

Martins said though that television viewership is most tied to wins and losses. So these numbers may not be much of a surprise.

Again, it feels like a lot of this is tied to the Magic's record. A lot of these decreases were to be expected.

When things were going well for the Magic, it all started on teh defensive end of the floor. Orlando had a top-10 defensive team in the league and could at least make a game ugly to stay in it.

That mentality seemed to dissipate after Glen Davis' injury and as the young players took on a bigger role for the team. The attention to detail from the Magic seemed to be going away on the defensive end and it made the roster's offensive shortcomings even more apparent.

The potential is there and to defeat the 76ers on Sunday, the Magic needed to reach back and find it.

After giving up 30 points in the first quarter and then 51.2 percent shooting in the first half, Orlando held Philadelphia to 40 second-half points on 41.9 percent shooting and 1-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc. The Magic showed they had some grit and determination to close games as their own hot shooting cooled off. It was the kind of grind-it-out win that you expect more from a veteran team perhaps.

The Magic used their veteran lineup to get the win but many players contributed on the defensive end. Philadelphia was unable to grind it out in the fourth quarter after the two teams went back and forth for almost the entire second half -- the biggest lead of the half was eight points and there were 10 lead changes.

In the end, Philadelphia was unable to keep pace. The 76ers missed free throws down the stretch and the Magic got some big baskets from Jameer Nelson and Arron Afflalo to secure a 99-91 win at Amway Center on Sunday, snapping a seven-game home losing streak that spanned the previous month.

"We kind of just talked about how our approach needed to be a little bit better," Jacque Vaughn said. "There were stages in the game, it was kind of like gears. We started in first gear and then there was the six-minute timeout and we kind of amped it up into second gear a little bit. Eventually in the second half we got into fourth gear. I think it was kind of a game of gears and finally we ramped it up a little bit."

That has not always been the case for Orlando. Sometimes it seems like when the offense is not going well, other aspects of the game -- particularly the defensive end -- tend to collapse. That is the sign of a young team. And you hardly ever talk about "gears" when looking at a team with 17 wins on the season.

The countdown has begun.

No really, it has begun with Power 95.3 FM purchasing several electronic billboards counting down the days, hours and minutes until the Magic take on the Lakers at Amway Center. That would be Tuesday at 7 p.m. if you are curious. Before then, the Magic will play the 76ers at home and the Lakers will play the Bulls in Los Angeles.

The focus is not entirely on Dwight Howard's "homecoming." But like everything this year, it is extremely hard to escape Howard's presence. The Magic are seemingly making every move not only to recover from Howard's departure but also to avoid repeating those mistakes.

The wounds continue to be freshened up every time Howard opens his mouth. The time for talk will soon end and Magic fans will see the man in person.

Of course all that venom is being directed at Howard because so many feel like he should still be in Orlando and had no reason for leaving.

Chris Broussard of ESPN was one of the reporters who raise magic fans' ire for his seemingly constant negative reports regarding the Magic throughout the whole saga. He was one of the national reporters that seemed to have it in for Orlando and never gave the franchise a chance at keeping him.

Well, Broussard now is looking at Dwight Howard and how he can rebuild his legacy. His ultimate conclusion is that Howard should stay with the Lakers and build from teh ground up again in his new surroundings.

The physicality started almost from the opening tipoff when Arron Afflalo drove into the lane and got into a minor shoving match with Paul George. The two picked up technical fouls as they pushed each other and shared some pleasant words before teammates were able to separate them.

It was the beginning of Indiana getting under Orlando's skin. It was a constant theme throughout the evening for the Magic as things got only tougher and tougher against Indiana as the night went on.

The Pacers took the lead for good early in the first quarter and the Magic fought back some. They took a double digit lead for good midway through the second quarter. The fight it seemed was all over but the count out for a knocked out Magic team. The big and physical Pacers defense had stymied the Magic and knocked them completely off their game in a 115-86 victory at Amway Center.

Indiana had all the answers, sending Orlando to the mat early and never letting Orlando get up with a surprisingly lethal offensive and fastbreak attack.

"I think if you don’t respond to their aggressiveness they are going to keep doing it and keep going after you," Nikola Vucevic said. "That’s what they do. They are a good team. They play that way. They are a tough team. When you play against them, you’ve got to bring a lot of energy and a lot of aggressiveness. That’s the only way you can beat them."

The Pacers slowly extended their lead out to as much as 29 points in this game, scoring 30 points off 21 turnovers and recording 15 fast break points, including 11 in a breakthrough third quarter where the Pacers built their largest lead. Paul George scored 25 points and Tyler Hansbrough had 18 points off the bench as the Pacers shot an uncharacterstically high 51.8 percent from the floor and 11 for 19 from beyond the arc.

Indiana though has built its identity on the team's defense. And that was in full display.

With Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith getting prepared for the NCAA Tournament coverage on the Turner Networks, Inside the NBA invited a new guest to host the popular TNT postgame show.

That guest was the one and only Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway.

Hardaway joined Shaquille O'Neal and Dennis Scott along with Ernie Johnson to break down the night's doubleheader -- a one-point Thunder win and a Nuggets blowout over the Clippers -- and the other news around the NBA. The night was full of remembrances about the Magic's glory days back in the mid-90s. Plenty of highlights were shown.

The fun part was Dennis Scott, Shaq and Penny breaking down the Magic's offense from those days.

Here is a taste of the festivities as the trio celebrated O'Neal's 41st birthday:

Good to see the three back together.

It has been two weeks since the Magic acquired Tobias Harris, Beno Udrih and Doron Lamb from Milwaukee for J.J. Redick, Ish Smith and Gustavo Ayon. Some of the initial shock has certainly worn off and the Magic have gotten some impressive play from Tobias Harris and Beno Udrih through three games in a Magic uniform.

The move was clearly a move that had the future in mind. Orlando was looking to cash in on Redick for a player that could contribute and develop in the future and also for some form of cap relief. The going thought really was that the Magic would not be able to or would not be willing to match whatever offer Redick would get this summer.

Even if they thought Redick was worth whatever amount he would get paid, it did not fall in with the Magic's long-term plans to tie up somewhere in the neighborhood of $8-10 million per year. Redick may be beloved, but it is questionable to spend $15-17 million per year on two shooting guards. Only one can start after all, and the jury is still out on Arron Afflalo and J.J. Redick as full-time starters on Playoff-caliber teams.

The Magic were not willing to make that investment in any case.

There is good reason. The Magic are trying to get their ducks in a row and give themselves flexilbility to go after free agents very soon in the future. Rob Hennigan inherited a roster with one of the largest payrolls in the league and he has had to find a way to rebuild the assets on the roster to make potential moves in the future.

That was very much something that the Magic had in mind when they made the Redick deal.

The past is a bit messy for Dwight Howard.

The last year has been a series of public relations nightmares and miscues and missteps. Howard has gone from celebrated here to reviled villain. He cannot do anything right.

So even as Howard backtracks off of comments he made to KCAL in Los Angeles, claiming his statement that the Magic were a team full of players "nobody wanted" was meant, as he tells Ramona Shelburne of ESPN Los Angeles, as a compliment to the team's never-ending underdog status, it seems like he has put his foot in his mouth, continually unaware of what effect his words will have on others' perception of him after this last year -- let alone in Orlando.

Regardless of what Howard meant, it was a poor way of phrasing it.

And, again, regardless of Howard's intention his former teammates were not pleased with the statements made about them.

Jameer Nelson, the usually reserved Magic team captain, lashed back at Howard for those comments and told Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel that Howard's comments were extremely unprofessional. At some point, Howard needs to let the past be the past.

At some point, when are you [Dwight] gonna as a man, when are you going to take ownership and stay out of the media in a professional manner?

I would be less of a man to comment on certain things that people comment on about me and my teammates. We had a great run as a group, as core guys, and he was a part of it (reaching the 2009 Finals) and for him to say things about anybody in a negative manner, that’s up to him.

That’s his opinion. If that’s how he feels, that’s how he feels.

Hopefully Howard's retraction is followed by a phone call or text to Nelson with some apology. Howard has yet to apologize for anything he said despite the emotions that have run because of them.

There are a few things teams cannot do under any circumstances against the Heat.

You cannot turn the ball over and allow Miami to get out on the break. You cannot allow the Heat to get those highlight plays that energize the crowd at AmericanAirlines Arena and demoralize their opponents. You cannot allow Miami to take corner threes.

The Magic committed 18 turnovers, leading to 18 points. The Magic allowed the Heat to turn a 10-point lead into a 15-point halftime deficit and then a 20-point lead early on in the third quarter. That run included a fast break alley-oop to LeBron James and a strong tomahawk jam down an open lane. The Heat also took 28 3-pointers, many of them from those dangerous corners.

Despite all that, it was the other thing you cannot allow Miami to do that ended this game.

You cannot leave the game in the hands of the league's best player.

LeBron James will get what he wants when motivated. And he has the respect of the officials to get the questionable calls. He did not need any questionable call though to finish the game. LeBron James took DeQuan Jones off the dribble and got to the basket for the game-winning layup with three seconds left.

It was enough. The Magic played about as well as they could and had the chance to pull it out. Things -- whistles, shots, whatever -- did not go their way in a 97-96 loss at AmericanAirlines Arena on Wednesday.

The Magic though were certainly more than game after falling behidn by 20 points. A recommitment to defense and Nikola Vucevic's extreme hustle on the boards got the Magic back into the game by the end of the quarter. The Heat were not hitting shots they normally make and Vucevic controlling the glass enabled the Magic to get back on their own.

Nikola Vucevic did not quite have 29 rebounds like he did in the first meeting, but his 25 points and 21 rebounds were big in every way. He had nine offensive rebounds and scored 15 points in the second half for Orlando. Much like in the first meeting, Vucevic was getting those tip ins and finding himself in the right spot to clean up the glass.

The defense though was the big thing for the Magic. Tobias Harris was urging his team to commit on that end in the third quarter to spark the comeback and that is what the Magic did.

We are a week away from the bloodbath that will be Dwight Howard's first game back in Orlando. There is not a game Magic fans have anticipated more than any other this season.

He did not need to throw any fuel onto the fire to get Magic fans' ire up.

He may have done that anyway.

In an interview with Kristine Leahy of CBS2, Howard opened up about his transition to the Lakers and the criticisms he has received this season with the Lakers, and dating back to last year's back-and-forth with Orlando. In it, Howard tries to justify his approach to the game and his demeanor on the court. He says he "doesn't have a bad bone in his body" -- something you have to believe is true considering his vast charity work and the good he did in Orlando for so long ignroing the naivete of his final year.

Then he said something interesting about the pressure of playing for the Lakers.

Howard told Leahy that in Orlando, he was playing with a bunch of players "no one wanted."

What was meant by that comment is unclear. The CBS station in Los Angeles showed highlights of Orlando's 2009 Eastern Conference Championship team. Howard could have been talking about the fact his teams were never nationally appreciated for how good they were and were the team nobody wanted to win for delaying LeBron James' ascencion.