Everyone is talking about what is going to happen when the Magic lose Dwight Howard.

What will they get in return? Will the team remain competitive?

Who will step up as the de facto leader in the absence of the three time Defensive Player of the Year?

I believe that last one we have an answer to, at least. Ryan Anderson has quickly emerged as one of the best three point gunners in the NBA, and the look of satisifaction after he makes one, is tantamount to the proverbial “money shot.” It’s nice to see a player who enjoys his success that much without making an arse of his opposition by taunting them. After LeBron James jumped over John Lucas, he looked over his shoulder at Lucas as though he was supposed to do something, like prostrate himself before King James. Anderson and many of the NBA’s more humble stars don’t go for those kinds of theatrics.

Anderson is a legit star at this point and is now averaging exactly what I set the over/under at him on going into this season, 16.6 points per game. He started off red hot, leading the Magic in scoring, but has had some particularly poor performances off set the rest of his brilliance. On the 23rd, at Boston, Anderson scored 0, going 0 of 8 from the floor, including 0 of 4 from behind the arc. If you throw out that game, a 5 point game, and an 8 point game, his scoring average would be over a full point higher at 17.7 per game. I realize that is like saying “take away all of a player’s bad games and this is what he is,” but who cares. The point is that as long as a shooter like Anderson isn’t having a horrible night, he can still make a pretty big impact.

He did that last game against the Philadelphia 76ers, grabbing 20 boards in a game which the teams combined for only 143 points. The Magic failed to score 70 once again, and are beginning to draw serious criticism from around the league. How can a team go from dominating the likes of the Lakers, to losing badly to a New Orleans Hornets team without their best player in Eric Gordon?

I guess Howard is as good as gone at this point, but I’m placing my faith in Anderson. Will he carry the Magic to 50 wins? No, probably not, not unless the Magic get a decent compensation package for Howard, but Anderson could team up favorably with a good point guard if the Magic could land one in the deal. There has been talk of a Blake Griffin for Dwight Howard swap, but that is another article for another day.

Anderson would team favorably with a lot of players who could be on the block, because he doesn’t have to clog the paint and he stretches the court, which opens up passing lanes and driving lanes. When Anderson and teammate J.J. Redick get cookin’, the result is Jameer Nelson playing a lot better, and Dwight Howard drawing less aggressive double teams. Anderson’s impact on other players goes largely unnoticed though, because he averages less than one assist per game (0.7).

Maybe at some point Anderson will gain the ability to begin to create for teammates, most especially because he is a perimeter player. It was something Redick couldn’t do when he entered the league out of Duke, but since he has learned to pump fake and put the ball on the floor, and Anderson has shown an ability to do that at times too. The problem is that when Anderson does it, he doesn’t seem to keep his head up to the possibility of finding teammates. That may come in time.

All in all, with Anderson you are getting a guy who I compared to Troy Murphy in his prime with more upside back before the season began on November 30th. That projection has seemed to be deadly accurate, as Anderson is ranking in the top 10 in Fantasy Basketball leagues, for those who enjoy pure statistics as a measure of impact.

But Anderson has been good for some time. His offensive rating this year is 125, and it was 122 last year and his usage rate is 22%, which is very high for a non-guard. If he starts picking up assists, that number will further rise.

There are other things it would be nice to see from Anderson, but it may be asking too much. He doesn’t block many shots for a guy who stands a true 6’10″, but he has limited athleticism, and isn’t going to rise high above the rim and throw shots in the second row like his teammate Dwight Howard does.

But you can’t ask for everything. Anderson is already on his way to remaining a top power forward for a long time because he is only 23 years old, still many seasons away from hitting his true prime.

The Magic may lose Howard, but whatever they add to the mix to compliment Ryan Anderson very well may keep the Magic relevant—at least as a playoff team.

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The Associated Press

Published: Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 6:56 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 6:56 a.m.

PHILADELPHIA – Andre Iguodala had 14 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to their third straight win, 74-69 over the Orlando Magic on Monday night.

The Sixers raced to their best start in nearly a decade by taking advantage of a soft schedule for the first third of the season. It gets tough from here. Orlando was the first opponent in a long run of games against winning teams that includes home games this week against Chicago and Miami.

Led by Iguodala’s burst in the third quarter, the Sixers outlasted the stumbling Magic. Dwight Howard’s 17 points and 11 rebounds weren’t enough in Orlando’s fourth straight loss.

Howard wants out of Orlando and criticized his teammates Friday for not playing hard enough in a loss to New Orleans.

Copyright 2012 NewsChief.com – All rights reserved. Restricted use only.

Coach Doug Collins has talked about the 76ers playing consistently and on an even keel, night in and night out, no matter whom the opposition, in order to keep on rolling.

And almost a third of the way of the way through the season, this is exactly what they are doing. On Monday at Wells Fargo Center, it worked again, this time producing a 74-69 victory over the Orlando Magic.

The point total was the lowest the Sixers (15-7) have finished with in any game this season, but it was achieved because they held the Magic (12-9) to just 26-for-78 shooting in the game.

Gradually, game by game, this year is becoming a series of mini-accomplishments that are starting to build, and allaying the fears that this season, which will be one third complete by the end of this week, is a fluke.

The latest step saw the Sixers easily beat an Orlando team – they led by 19 in the fourth quarter – that had previously owned them. They held the Magic below 50 points until they finally hit 51 when Ryan Anderson scored on a put-back to make the score 68-51 Sixers with 3 minutes, 20 seconds left.

On numerous occasions the crowd rose to its feet and serenaded the Sixers with applause, the loudest of which came when Elton Brand swatted a short jumper by Orlando’s Dwight Howard right back in his face late in the fourth.

The victory ended the Magic’s six-game winning streak at the Wells Fargo Center, and it marked just the second time in the last 13 meetings that the Sixers had beaten the Magic.

Coming off a triple-double, the Sixers’ Andre Iguodala was superb again, finishing with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists. Tony Battie scored eight points and grabbed nine rebounds, and Brand had eight points and seven rebounds.

Howard finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Anderson finished with 14 points and a game-high 20 rebounds.

The Sixers were once again without starting center Spencer Hawes (strained left Achilles tendon), but Orlando was shorthanded as well, playing without its starting backcourt of Chester’s own Jameer Nelson (concussion-like symptoms) and Jason Richardson (rest).

Fatigued or not, Orlando, playing its sixth game in eight nights, held the Sixers to 37 points in the first half, their lowest total since the New York Knicks held them to 35 in the first half of an 85-79 loss earlier this month.

Still, the Sixers led by four points at halftime because their defense reduced the Magic to a 12-for-36 shooting wreck. This covered up for their shaky 17-for-41 effort.

But the Sixers were able to shake off the offensive malaise of the first half, and Orlando was not. The Sixers held Orlando to nine points in the third, the first time this season the Sixers had held an opponent under 10 points in any quarter.

With Orlando making just three field goals the entire quarter, the Sixers were able to extend their lead to 58-42 at the end of the quarter.

Orlando has struggled this season and is in a particularly grueling stretch of the season right now. The Magic was playing its sixth game in eight nights on Monday. They had lost three in a row, most recently falling to Indiana, at home on Sunday, by 21 points.

The Sixers’ schedule is about to become significantly more demanding than it has been since the start of the season. Howard is easily the best big man in the league, but now the Sixers are about to face some of the better teams in the NBA.

Contact staff writer John N. Mitchell at jmitchell@philly.com or on Twitter @deepsixer3

AP Photo/H. Rumph Jr

Philadelphia 76ers’ Elton Brand (42) reacts after scoring against the Orlando Magic in the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, in Philadelphia.

Andre Iguodala had 14 points and 11 rebounds to lead the surprising Philadelphia 76ers to their third straight win, 74-69 over the Orlando Magic on Monday night.
The Sixers raced to their best start in nearly a decade by taking advantage of a soft schedule for the first third of the season, but it gets tough from here. Orlando was the first opponent in a long run of games against winning teams that includes home games this week against Chicago and Miami.
Led by Iguodala’s burst in the third quarter, the Sixers (15-6) outlasted the stumbling Magic and won despite posting their lowest point total of the season. Dwight Howard’s 17 points and 11 rebounds weren’t enough in Orlando’s fourth straight loss.
Howard wants out of Orlando and criticized his teammates Friday for not playing hard enough in a loss to New Orleans. He missed eight of 13 free throws overall against Philadelphia and the Magic missed 14 of 17 shots from the floor in the third. Ryan Anderson had 14 points and 20 rebounds.
The Magic missed nine straight shots during a 6-minute stretch in the third that allowed the Sixers to build a double-digit lead. Jodie Meeks hit a 3-pointer for a 53-40 lead and the 76ers withstood three late 3s by Orlando that trimmed the final margin.
The Magic scored only nine points in the third quarter. Howard had all three baskets.
With 6 minutes left in the game, the Magic had yet to reach 50 points.
Long the fourth pro team in Philadelphia, the improved Sixers are winning back fans one victory at a time. They improved to 11-2 at home in front one of their largest crowds of the season (16,299). Heading into a timeout in the third, the Atlantic Division leaders walked off toward the huddle to a standing ovation.
Coming off a triple-double against Detroit on Saturday, Iguodala fell four assists shy of a repeat effort. The rest of the Sixers struggled to score, but Philadelphia didn’t need to do much against an Orlando team that has completely unraveled.
Sixers first year CEO Adam Aron conducted as he mingled with fans and the team’s retro theme song was blasted for the enthusiastic crowd. Aron and the new ownership group have overhauled the game-night atmosphere, but the biggest change has come on the court.
They’ll need more than a catchy tune to get through the next two weeks. After Chicago and Miami, the Sixers play Saturday at Atlanta. They return home next week for games against the Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers.
Fans yelled “On the list!” at Howard, a reference to placing the Sixers on his short list of teams where he’d like to be traded.
Before the game, Howard walked around the locker room with a brick in each hand, playfully swinging them around and yelling, “I’m going to knock somebody in the head!”
He shot more bricks from the free throw line, not a total surprise considering he shoots 46 percent from the line.
Evan Turner scored 12 points for the Sixers and Thaddeus Young had 10.
Notes: Magic point guard Jameer Nelson did not travel with the team, sidelined with concussion-like symptoms after taking an inadvertent blow to the head and jaw in Orlando’s loss at New Orleans on Friday. Coach Stan Van Gundy said Nelson could be sidelined another week. … The 76ers played again without starting center Spencer Hawes (left Achilles strain) and his backup, rookie Nik Vucevic (left quad strain). … Iguodala moved into fourth place on the team’s career steals list, passing Charles Barkley. … Orlando’s nine points in the third was the low against Philly for a quarter.