The Magic, finally, did not laugh along with him. Jameer Nelson, who heard Howard’s pleas to join higher-profile point guards like Deron Williams and Paul, played despite tendonitis in his Achilles tendon. Shooting guard Arron Afflalo, who was traded from Denver as part of Howard’s three-team power play, pumped his fist to celebrate a 3-pointer at halftime buzzer. Almost everyone in Orlando is new, from the general manager to the coach to the players, but the bench still erupted after every basket and Nelson pointed at them after a clinching 3.
“We can all say it’s just a basketball game, but because of things that happened in the past, it means a lot more,” Nelson said. “We went through some things last year.”
Given all the damage Howard wrought — demanding a trade, undermining a general manager, forcing out a coach — it was not enough for the Magic to simply beat him. They had to humiliate him in the process. When Howard checked back into the game with a little more than seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, and the Lakers up by three points, the Magic decided to foul him. And foul him again. And keep fouling him. This was the strategy so many teams employed against them in recent years and finally they used it to their benefit.