--Coach Stan Van Gundy believes a big reason for C Dwight Howard's recent knee injury that caused him to miss the previous two games was his presence on the USA Basketball team that played in each of the previous three summers. It's overuse, in Van Gundy's eyes. "When you're talking about a joint injury like this, you're talking wear and tear," Van Gundy said. "Obviously the more he's on it, the more wear and tear there's going to be. No question, playing in the summers had something to do with it."
--The Magic are closing in on the best start in franchise history. At 20-6, they have the second best 26-game start in history, trailing only the 1994-95 team that went 21-5 and cruised to 22-5 before it lost a sixth game that season. --The Magic became the fourth team in the league to record 20 victories this season, putting them into a class with the Lakers, Celtics and Cavaliers.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Jameer (Nelson) was just tremendous. He's been on a real roll lately." -- Magic coach Stan Van Gundy.
