Dwight Howard Frustrated With Lack of Rest

Unlike his coach, Dwight Howard isn’t concerned about the Atlanta Hawks, but what does worry him is the amount of time the Magic are spending on the court instead of off their feet. From the Orlando Sentinel: “Howard expressed no concern that the Magic lost their regular-season series to the Hawks, their likely first-round opponent. ‘It’ll be a different animal in the playoffs,’ he said. Meanwhile, injuries have reduced the Magic to just nine available players, including Gilbert Arenas, who continues to have problems with his left leg. And it seems that Howard wanted to make sure the Magic had Thursday off from practice. ‘We need our rest, you know,’ Howard said. ‘A lot of guys are trying to get healthy, and we keep pounding them away. Gilbert, his knee isn’t right yet. That’s not excuses, but when you have a short roster sometimes rest is what’s going to get everybody back healthy. You can’t force the issue or press your team when you know everybody’s not healthy. We’ve got to have our rest,’ he added later. ‘We’ve practiced enough. We’ve had enough shootarounds. It’s about rest right now.’ The Magic will not practice Thursday.”