PHILADELPHIA — Dwight Howard sat stone-faced near the end of the Orlando Magic bench as the final minutes ticked down Monday night inside the Wells Fargo Center. The Magic were about to lose their fourth consecutive game, and Howard must have hated what he was witnessing.

The final score — Philadelphia 74, Orlando 69 — does not reflect how just how poorly the Magic offense played. The team had only 51 points with three minutes remaining in regulation, and it looked like the club could set another single-game franchise low for points.

“Look, if a team doesn’t play hard, that’s one thing, but I thought our guys competed hard tonight,” coach Stan Van Gundy said. “And it’s my responsibility to find a way to create good shots for us, and I’m not running from that responsibility.”

But why has the team gone into freefall, losing four in a row and five of its last six?

Players and Van Gundy cite a demanding schedule in which they’ve held only one practice and played 10 games over the last 15 days. They also note that starting point guard Jameer Nelson has missed the last two games and that Jason Richardson sat out on Monday night because of continued weakness in his left knee.

Meanwhile, Van Gundy and Dwight Howard dismissed the notion that Howard’s uncertain future and trade request has created an adverse chain reaction on the rest of the team.

After the final buzzer, after facing questions from the press, Howard said his long-term plans and his criticism of teammates after a few losses do not impact the rest of the guys in the Magic locker room.

“When you step on the court, you have to play,” Howard said. “It doesn’t matter what anybody says. This is basketball. We love this game. We’re blessed. We’re doing something that we love. So that should not affect you when you get on the floor. It shouldn’t.

“These guys know how I feel about each and every one of them. These are my brothers regardless of what happens, and I’m going to give them 100 percent every night because I owe it to them. I owe to the city. I owe it to the team. That’s my job. That’s what I do. And I owe it to myself because I want to win, and I love this game.”

On Monday, Howard scored a team-high 17 points. But he, like most of his teammates, was not efficient. He went 6-for-17 from the field and 5-for-13 from the foul line.

He didn’t receive much help — at least not until it was too late.

J.J. Redick went 3-for-13.

Hedo Turkoglu was 1-for-9, and afterward, Van Gundy said Turkoglu “is pretty tired right now” and is almost out of gas.

With Turkoglu less than effective, and Nelson out, the Magic have lost two key components of their pick-and-roll game.

Ryan Anderson scored 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting and added a career-high 20 rebounds.

If there was a saving grace for Orlando (12-9) on Monday it was that Philadelphia (15-6) has one of the best defenses in the NBA.

The Sixers entered Monday limiting opponents to 87.0 points per game, the lowest average in the league, and just 41.8 percent shooting, the third-lowest percentage in the league.

Still, the Magic need to address their problems. Orlando now has failed to score at least 20 points in 11 of its last 14 quarters, a streak that dates back to the second half of last Thursday’s heartbreaking defeat to the Boston Celtics.

In Monday’s third quarter, Orlando made only three baskets, all of them by Howard.

“Effort on both ends of the court,” Anderson said when asked what happened in the period and in others like it.

“I think we have all the tools. We can play well. We know how to play. I just think we’re coming out and our effort just isn’t really there the way we know it can be.”

jbrobbins@tribune.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog. Subscribe to our Orlando Magic newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/joinus.

PHILADELPHIA — Dwight Howard sat stone-faced near the end of the Orlando Magic bench as the final minutes ticked down Monday night inside the Wells Fargo Center. The Magic were about to lose their fourth consecutive game, and Howard must have hated what he was witnessing.

The final score — Philadelphia 74, Orlando 69 — does not reflect how just how poorly the Magic offense played. The team had only 51 points with three minutes remaining in regulation, and it looked like the club could set another single-game franchise low for points.

“Look, if a team doesn’t play hard, that’s one thing, but I thought our guys competed hard tonight,” coach Stan Van Gundy said. “And it’s my responsibility to find a way to create good shots for us, and I’m not running from that responsibility.”

But why has the team gone into freefall, losing four in a row and five of its last six?

Players and Van Gundy cite a demanding schedule in which they’ve held only one practice and played 10 games over the last 15 days. They also note that starting point guard Jameer Nelson has missed the last two games and that Jason Richardson sat out on Monday night because of continued weakness in his left knee.

Meanwhile, Van Gundy and Dwight Howard dismissed the notion that Howard’s uncertain future and trade request has created an adverse chain reaction on the rest of the team.

After the final buzzer, after facing questions from the press, Howard said his long-term plans and his criticism of teammates after a few losses do not impact the rest of the guys in the Magic locker room.

“When you step on the court, you have to play,” Howard said. “It doesn’t matter what anybody says. This is basketball. We love this game. We’re blessed. We’re doing something that we love. So that should not affect you when you get on the floor. It shouldn’t.

“These guys know how I feel about each and every one of them. These are my brothers regardless of what happens, and I’m going to give them 100 percent every night because I owe it to them. I owe to the city. I owe it to the team. That’s my job. That’s what I do. And I owe it to myself because I want to win, and I love this game.”

On Monday, Howard scored a team-high 17 points. But he, like most of his teammates, was not efficient. He went 6-for-17 from the field and 5-for-13 from the foul line.

He didn’t receive much help — at least not until it was too late.

J.J. Redick went 3-for-13.

Hedo Turkoglu was 1-for-9, and afterward, Van Gundy said Turkoglu “is pretty tired right now” and is almost out of gas.

With Turkoglu less than effective, and Nelson out, the Magic have lost two key components of their pick-and-roll game.

Ryan Anderson scored 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting and added a career-high 20 rebounds.

If there was a saving grace for Orlando (12-9) on Monday it was that Philadelphia (15-6) has one of the best defenses in the NBA.

The Sixers entered Monday limiting opponents to 87.0 points per game, the lowest average in the league, and just 41.8 percent shooting, the third-lowest percentage in the league.

Still, the Magic need to address their problems. Orlando now has failed to score at least 20 points in 11 of its last 14 quarters, a streak that dates back to the second half of last Thursday’s heartbreaking defeat to the Boston Celtics.

In Monday’s third quarter, Orlando made only three baskets, all of them by Howard.

“Effort on both ends of the court,” Anderson said when asked what happened in the period and in others like it.

“I think we have all the tools. We can play well. We know how to play. I just think we’re coming out and our effort just isn’t really there the way we know it can be.”

jbrobbins@tribune.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog. Subscribe to our Orlando Magic newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/joinus.

The secret to beating the Orlando Magic is no secret at all.

If you have good interior defenders, you single-cover Dwight Howard as much as possible and ask your other defenders to crowd perimeter shooters to take away 3-point shots.

The Boston Celtics did that when they eliminated the Magic during the 2010 Eastern Conference finals. The Atlanta Hawks followed a similar script when they knocked the Magic out of last year’s first round. And the Celtics did it again Monday night, limiting the Magic to single-game franchise lows of 56 points and 24.6 percent shooting.

“We have trouble scoring against them,” Magic guardJ.J. Redicksaid. “That’s not a secret. They’re a great defense, and we’ve had so many battles with them that they’ve kind of figured us out.”

Another battle against the stingy Celtics looms Thursday at Amway Center.

Stan Van Gundy resorted to a coach’s cliché when he was asked how important this latest matchup will be. Win or lose, he said, the result will only count once in the standings.

Van Gundy is factually correct.

But, at some point, the Magic probably will have to solve the Celtics’ defensive scheme. If Orlando does not face Boston this postseason, then Orlando may face Atlanta. If Orlando does not play Atlanta, perhaps the Chicago Bulls — who are coached by former Celtics assistant coach Tom Thibodeau — will employ the same defensive game plan as the Celtics’ and the Hawks’ game plans.

Thursday, the Magic can start overcoming the obstacles.

“It’s not another game,” said the Magic’s Glen Davis. “We want to beat them. We want to beat them bad because we didn’t show them who we really are. They played a good game.”

Davis understands the challenges better than most. In both the 2009 playoffs and again in the 2010 playoffs, he was one of the big men who would guard Howard one-on-one.

Davis said a key for Orlando now — and something the team failed to do Monday — is to move the ball.

Van Gundy, Redick and Ryan Anderson also emphasized the importance of ball movement and, if necessary, running a second and third pick-and-roll each possession.

“I think the answer for us is we’ve got to somehow get their bodies off of us or try to get ‘em to put two guys on the ball,” Van Gundy said. “A lot of that is going to be screening and ball movement. And the pace of the game has to be very quick. I don’t mean necessarily it’s got to be up-and-down.”

This is largely what point guard Jameer Nelson meant when he said the Magic were “selfish” in their defeat Monday night. When Howard encountered problems down low, Orlando players too often tried to beat their defenders one-on-one. That’s a recipe for disaster for Orlando, because the team lacks players who can create their own shots off the dribble.

“Obviously, if Dwight has a mismatch down low and they’re single-covering him, we’ve got to get him the ball,” Anderson said. “But sometimes we can be really stagnant when Dwight gets the ball and kind of just stand around.”

On Monday, the Magic had problems just starting their halfcourt offense because Boston guard Avery Bradley put so much pressure on Nelson as Nelson brought the ball upcourt.

Publicly, Howard maintains that the loss in Boston merely was one bad game and that every team eventually has an awful performance.

But the Celtics have given the Magic so many problems in recent years that Howard must know Orlando has to find a way to beat Boston.

Redick all but acknowledged that when he was asked whether Thursday’s matchup is more important than a typical regular-season game.

“Yes,” he responded. “It absolutely is. We got embarrassed. We got embarrassed. So, yes, it is.”

jbrobbins@tribune.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog. Subscribe to our Orlando Magic newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/joinus.

The secret to beating the Orlando Magic is no secret at all.

If you have good interior defenders, you single-cover Dwight Howard as much as possible and ask your other defenders to crowd perimeter shooters to take away 3-point shots.

The Boston Celtics did that when they eliminated the Magic during the 2010 Eastern Conference finals. The Atlanta Hawks followed a similar script when they knocked the Magic out of last year’s first round. And the Celtics did it again Monday night, limiting the Magic to single-game franchise lows of 56 points and 24.6 percent shooting.

“We have trouble scoring against them,” Magic guardJ.J. Redicksaid. “That’s not a secret. They’re a great defense, and we’ve had so many battles with them that they’ve kind of figured us out.”

Another battle against the stingy Celtics looms Thursday at Amway Center.

Stan Van Gundy resorted to a coach’s cliché when he was asked how important this latest matchup will be. Win or lose, he said, the result will only count once in the standings.

Van Gundy is factually correct.

But, at some point, the Magic probably will have to solve the Celtics’ defensive scheme. If Orlando does not face Boston this postseason, then Orlando may face Atlanta. If Orlando does not play Atlanta, perhaps the Chicago Bulls — who are coached by former Celtics assistant coach Tom Thibodeau — will employ the same defensive game plan as the Celtics’ and the Hawks’ game plans.

Thursday, the Magic can start overcoming the obstacles.

“It’s not another game,” said the Magic’s Glen Davis. “We want to beat them. We want to beat them bad because we didn’t show them who we really are. They played a good game.”

Davis understands the challenges better than most. In both the 2009 playoffs and again in the 2010 playoffs, he was one of the big men who would guard Howard one-on-one.

Davis said a key for Orlando now — and something the team failed to do Monday — is to move the ball.

Van Gundy, Redick and Ryan Anderson also emphasized the importance of ball movement and, if necessary, running a second and third pick-and-roll each possession.

“I think the answer for us is we’ve got to somehow get their bodies off of us or try to get ‘em to put two guys on the ball,” Van Gundy said. “A lot of that is going to be screening and ball movement. And the pace of the game has to be very quick. I don’t mean necessarily it’s got to be up-and-down.”

This is largely what point guard Jameer Nelson meant when he said the Magic were “selfish” in their defeat Monday night. When Howard encountered problems down low, Orlando players too often tried to beat their defenders one-on-one. That’s a recipe for disaster for Orlando, because the team lacks players who can create their own shots off the dribble.

“Obviously, if Dwight has a mismatch down low and they’re single-covering him, we’ve got to get him the ball,” Anderson said. “But sometimes we can be really stagnant when Dwight gets the ball and kind of just stand around.”

On Monday, the Magic had problems just starting their halfcourt offense because Boston guard Avery Bradley put so much pressure on Nelson as Nelson brought the ball upcourt.

Publicly, Howard maintains that the loss in Boston merely was one bad game and that every team eventually has an awful performance.

But the Celtics have given the Magic so many problems in recent years that Howard must know Orlando has to find a way to beat Boston.

Redick all but acknowledged that when he was asked whether Thursday’s matchup is more important than a typical regular-season game.

“Yes,” he responded. “It absolutely is. We got embarrassed. We got embarrassed. So, yes, it is.”

jbrobbins@tribune.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog. Subscribe to our Orlando Magic newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/joinus.

The secret to beating the Orlando Magic is no secret at all.

If you have good interior defenders, you single-cover Dwight Howard as much as possible and ask your other defenders to crowd perimeter shooters to take away 3-point shots.

The Boston Celtics did it when they eliminated the Magic during the 2010 Eastern Conference finals. The Atlanta Hawks followed a similar script when they knocked the Magic out of last year’s first round. And the Celtics did it again Monday night, limiting the Magic to single-game franchise lows of 56 points and 24.6 percent shooting.

“We have trouble scoring against them,” Magic guard J.J. Redick said. “That’s not a secret. They’re a great defense, and we’ve had so many battles with them that they’ve kind of figured us out.”

Another battle against the stingy Celtics looms Thursday at Amway Center.

Stan Van Gundy resorted to a coach’s cliché when he was asked how important this latest matchup will be. Win or lose, he said, the result will only count once in the standings.

Van Gundy is factually correct.

But, at some point, the Magic probably will have to solve the Celtics’ defensive scheme. If Orlando does not face Boston this postseason, then Orlando may face Atlanta. If Orlando does not play Atlanta, perhaps the Chicago Bulls — who are coached by former Celtics assistant coach Tom Thibodeau — will employ a gameplan as the Celtics and the Hawks.

Thursday, the Magic can start overcoming the obstacles.

“It’s not another game,” said the Magic’s Glen Davis. “We want to beat them. We want to beat them bad because we didn’t show them who we really are. They played a good game.”

Davis understands the challenges better than most. In both the 2009 playoffs and again in the 2010 playoffs, he was one of the big men who would guard Howard one-on-one.

Davis said a key for Orlando now — and something the team failed to do Monday — is to move the ball.

Van Gundy, Redick and Ryan Anderson also emphasized the importance of ball movement and, if necessary, running a second and third pick-and-roll each possession.

“I think the answer for us is we’ve got to somehow get their bodies off of us or try to get ‘em to put two guys on the ball,” Van Gundy said. “A lot of that is going to be screening and ball movement. And the pace of the game has to be very quick. I don’t mean necessarily it’s got to be up-and-down.”

This is largely what point guard Jameer Nelson meant when he said the Magic were “selfish” in their defeat Monday night. When Howard encountered problems down low, Orlando players too often tried to beat their defenders one-on-one. That’s a recipe for disaster for Orlando, because the team lacks players who can create their own shots off the dribble.

“Obviously, if Dwight has a mismatch down low and they’re single-covering him, we’ve got to get him the ball,” Anderson said. “But sometimes we can be really stagnant when Dwight gets the ball and kind of just stand around.”

On Monday, the Magic had problems just starting their halfcourt offense because Boston guard Avery Bradley put so much pressure on Nelson as Nelson brought the ball upcourt.

Publicly, Howard maintains that the loss in Boston merely was one bad game and that every team eventually has an awful performance.

But the Celtics have given the Magic so many problems in recent years that Howard must know Orlando has to find a way to beat Boston.

Redick all but acknowledged that when he was asked whether Thursday’s matchup is more important than a typical regular-season game.

“Yes,” he responded. “It absolutely is. We got embarrassed. We got embarrassed. So, yes, it is.”

jbrobbins@tribune.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog. Subscribe to our Orlando Magic newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/joinus.

BOSTON — Glen Davis and Brandon Bass met at TD Garden’s midcourt stripe about two hours before the Orlando Magic faced the Boston Celtics on Monday.

Davis and Bass were good friends long before this season, and they continue to be good friends after their lives changed last month. Davis agreed to a four-year deal with the Magic, and then Davis and Von Wafer were traded to Orlando for Bass.

“It was a shock,” Bass said before tipoff. “Usually, you hear about a rumor. I didn’t get a rumor. When I was traded, that’s when I heard I was traded. So I was shocked. But that’s life. It’s life in the NBA. It happens, you make your adjustment and then you move on.”

Bass said he is still adjusting, but he entered Monday averaging 11.5 points and 6.4 rebounds per game for Boston.

Davis’ adjustment also is still ongoing.

On Monday, he had no idea how Celtics fans would respond to him.

Davis joked that Bostonians hadn’t reacted to him on Sunday or before tipoff on Monday.

“I don’t think people recognized me,” he joked. “They said I’ve lost a lot of weight.”

But he received a warm response when, during a timeout with 6:44 remaining in the first quarter, the arena’s video board displayed a tribute of him.

The vast majority of fans gave him a standing ovation, and Davis walked onto the court. He smiled and pumped his fist. Dwight Howard clapped.

Davis and Bass were born in Baton Rouge, La., just eight months apart, and grew up in Louisiana’s capital city. They even spent a year together as teammates at LSU.

That’s what made the trade so strange for Bass.

“It was weird, man,” he said. “It was just so weird that you’d get traded for your childhood buddy in the NBA. I just thought that was so crazy. . . . I’m happy for him, and I know he’s happy for me. And after we finish playing, we can talk about this once we retire years from now.”

Turk’s back

Hedo Turkoglu returned to the Magic’s starting lineup and played for the first time since he tweaked his back last Tuesday in a game.

The Magic employed their regular starting lineup of Jameer Nelson, Jason Richardson, Ryan Anderson, Turkoglu and Howard.

Layups

•Howard was named the NBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Week on Monday.

•Boston starters Ray Allen (ankle) and Rajon Rondo (wrist) did not play.

•Magic CEO Alex Martins accompanied the team on the first leg of its road trip and attended Monday’s game. He said he is scheduled to go to NBA headquarters today in New York to introduce the Magic’s new chairman, Dan DeVos, to NBA Commissioner David Stern.

•Magic General Manager Otis Smith did not attend Monday’s game. It’s rare for him to miss a road game, but Martins said Smith was under the weather Sunday and then couldn’t get to Boston on Monday because of airline mechanical problems.

•The Magic did not hold a shootaround at TD Garden. Monday started a stretch in which the Magic will play six games over eight days.

•A new episode of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel will premiere tonight and will feature a segment about Magic coach Stan Van Gundy and his brother, ESPN analyst and former NBA head coach Jeff Van Gundy. A recent rough cut of the segment sent by HBO to the Orlando Sentinel included Stan saying that Jeff is the person with whom he would most love to spend a day. The segment also included Stan’s and Jeff’s recollections of the infamous postseason fight between the New York Knicks and Miami Heat in which Jeff clung onto Alonzo Mourning’s lower leg.

•In yet another one of the 2011-12 schedule’s strange quirks, the Magic will play the Celtics again Thursday night. The game will be held at Amway Center.

•The Celtics entered Monday with 43 dunks this season; Howard started the day with 34, according to CBSSports.com.

jbrobbins@tribune.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog. Subscribe to our Orlando Magic newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/joinus.

Magic rout Knicks 102-93 thanks to Anderson’s 30 points

Ryan Anderson scored a career-high 30 points, extending his NBA lead with seven 3-pointers, and the Orlando Magic beat the New York Knicks 102-93 on Monday to complete a perfect four-game road trip.

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GREENBURGH, N.Y. — For his first 19 games as a member of the New York Knicks, Carmelo Anthony preached patience when he talked about the team’s struggles.

Apparently, the time for patience is now over. Anthony said Monday’s game against Orlando is a must-win.

“For our own confidence, our own satisfaction, it’s a must-win for us,” Anthony said after the team’s shootaround Monday morning. “I think if we approach the game like that tonight, good things will happen.”

The Knicks have lost six straight and are three games below .500. They are just 7-12 since trading for Anthony on Feb. 21 and enter play Monday in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, three games ahead of Indiana for the conference’s eighth and final playoff spot.

The Knicks took Sunday off after a 114-106 road loss to Charlotte on Saturday night. Coach Mike D’Antoni held a morning shootaround on the day of a home game for the first time this season.

He said after the shootaround that the team has struggled to play with intensity for a full 48 minutes, adding that it was time to “draw a line in the sand and play as hard as we can play.” The coach also was concerned that losing would take a toll on the Knicks’ mental approach.

“We’re not a real confident team right now because we’re losing all the time,” he said.

The Knicks have lost all three games to Orlando this season, the last coming at the Garden on March 23 when they were outscored by 11 in the fourth quarter of a 111-99 loss. Fourth-quarter struggles have been a common theme throughout the Knicks’ recent skid. They’ve also struggled against the teams behind them in the standings, losing eight games to teams with losing records since acquiring Anthony.

Anthony expressed confidence that the Knicks would improve their play late in games.

“Me and Amare [Stoudemire] are two guys who can close out games, Chauncey [Billups] is a guy who can close out games,” he said. “We’ve been in situations where we close out games before so … we’ve just got to figure out what’s really going on out there in the fourth quarter and just get it done.”

Knicks general manager Donnie Walsh expressed concern that the team’s side — New York has lost lost nine of 10 — is affecting his coach.

“It’s not easy to lose anywhere in the franchise but the coach is on the front line and it can get old,” Walsh said. “You’re going to go home at night, not sleep. The only thing I’ve said to Mike, ‘Don’t get overwrought with this thing,’ because most coaches do. They go home and they’re thinking about it, they don’t sleep. Some of them come in early in the morning and go over film and that kind of stuff. I hope he’s not doing that because I’m sure he’s doing every single thing he can do.”

Ian Begley is a frequent contributor to ESPNNewYork.com.

CLEVELAND — The Orlando Magic are making good on their pledge to take it slow with J.J. Redick as he recovers from a strained lower abdominal muscle.

As expected, Redick didn’t play for the Magic against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night and missed his sixth consecutive game.

But Redick shot baskets on the Quicken Loans Arena game court for about 30 minutes prior to tipoff. With athletic trainer Keon Weise watching closely, Redick shot jumpers and even did some running by coming off of screens, receiving bounce passes and shooting the basketball.

“Just trying to make progress,” Redick said afterward.

The key for Redick is to make sure he doesn’t twist his torso awkwardly and aggravate his injury. That’s one reason why he’s not practicing with the team and isn’t playing: He might have to make an unexpected, sudden movement that would worsen the strain.

“He’s feeling better,” coach Stan Van Gundy said. “We’re just waiting for him to get ready.”

Gil is a go

Gilbert Arenas played for the Magic after he missed Friday’s game and Sunday’s practice because of a sore left calf. He entered Monday’s game as a shooting guard with 3:21 left in the first quarter.

Chris Duhon continued to serve as the team’s backup point guard.

Being less generous

Van Gundy has a number in mind when it comes to turnovers: The Magic would be a tough out in the playoffs if they limit themselves to 13 or fewer turnovers per game and play strong defense and shoot well.

Problem is, the Magic have turned the ball over in bunches lately.

The team entered Monday averaging 16.8 turnovers per game this month alone, resulting directly in 18.1 points per game for opponents.

At their Monday-morning walkthrough, Van Gundy planned to show his players video clips of some of their recent turnovers. People making entry passes to Dwight Howard occasionally have failed to account for defenders rushing over from the weak side. Van Gundy also didn’t like some of his team’s recent lengthy bounce passes.

“The fine line I think you walk as a coach is you don’t want people playing tentatively, being afraid to make plays,” Van Gundy said.

No Magic player has turned the ball over more than Howard lately. He entered Monday averaging 5.0 turnovers per game in March.

Point guard Jameer Nelson also would like to reduce his own turnover rate.

“You’ve still got to be aggressive,” said Nelson, who had committed 3.2 turnovers per game this month before Monday. “But you have to be under control and be smart and understand when you’re doing so, you’re going to make mistakes. When you have the ball as much as I do to make plays, you’re going to turn the ball over some, some games more than others.”

Layups

• Cleveland point guard Baron Davis missed his second consecutive game because of back spasms.

• Cavaliers coach Byron Scott has watched the NCAA Tournament, and he likes the chances of the Ohio State Buckeyes, the top-seed in the East. The Buckeyes reached the Sweet Sixteen by beating George Mason 98-66 on Sunday. “If they play like that the rest of this tournament, nobody will beat ‘em,” Scott said.

• Howard finished the first half with a double-double. He had 16 points and 11 rebounds, along with three assists.

jbrobbins@tribune.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog. Subscribe to our Orlando Magic newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/joinus.