The Orlando Magic did not waive rookie combo guard DeAndre Liggins by Tuesday's 6 PM deadline, confirming the Kentucky product will remain on the team's roster for the rest of the regular season and fully guaranteeing his salary.

Though Liggins' contract won't become fully guaranteed in an official sense until Friday, NBA teams had only until Tuesday at 6 PM to waive players in time for them to clear waivers by the deadline. As such, some players around the league--including Derrick Caracter, Josh Davis, Mickell Gladness, Solomon Jones, and Malcolm Thomas--found themselves out of a job Tuesday evening.

Orlando selected Liggins with the 55th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft after a successful three-year career with the Kentucky Wildcats. Liggins earned a reputation as a staunch defender in the mold of fellow Chicago native Tony Allen and averaged 5.8 points, three rebounds, and 2.1 assists.

In his first media availabilty session following Orlando's selection of him, Liggins said he could defend point guards, shooting guards, and small forwards. His priorities were "to become a better ballhandler and better shooter." Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said Liggins' shooting is already NBA-caliber, noting he had "no problem" draining threes from beyond the NBA arc. "He's not gonna be that guy you don't have to guard," he said. "That's huge."

Liggins has yet to log any minutes at the NBA level, though he made a 10-minute appearance in Orlando's final preseason game, during which he tallied one point, one rebound, and four assists. The fact that the Magic decided to keep him despite not getting a chance to see him outside the practice court bodes well for his NBA future.

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Despite 33 points and 14 rebounds from Dwight Howard, the Orlando Magic's three-game losing streak snapped Monday night as the Los Angeles Clippers held on for a 107-102 overtime victory. Clippers point guard Chris Paul scored 13 of his team-high 29 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to lift his team to victory, while Chauncey Billups drilled five of the visitors' 13 three-pointers. The defeat spoiled Jameer Nelson's return to Orlando's lineup, as the veteran point guard tallied 15 points and a season-high 12 assists in his first game since suffering from concussion-like symptoms following collisions with Jarrett Jack over a week ago.

Orlando lost this game on the defensive side of the ball, yielding a season-worst 13 triples. When Orlando scores better than 1.1 points per possession, as it did Monday evening, it should win handily. But the Magic, like so many teams, simply could not contain Paul, and his dribble penetration set up several open looks for his Clippers teammates.

The Magic rallied from a deficit that reached nine points in the fourth period and nearly pulled off the victory behind a late flurry from Nelson. He scored six points with two free throws, his signature stepback jumper, and a driving layup to bring the Magic to within three, and J.J. Redick found Ryan Anderson for an open three-pointer on the team's next trip to even the score at 89 with 2:45 remaining. Moments later, he dished to Jason Richardson for a layup and-one which gave Orlando a one-point advantage.

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Longtime readers of Orlando Pinstriped Post no doubt know Mike from Illinois, a member of this community for nearly four years. His even-tempered, statisticlly inflected comments in these pages have drawn praise from Orlando Magic fans of all (pin)stripes, and today I'm pleased to introduce Mike as OPP's newest writer.

Mike and I will split Magic game recapping duties here on in; the shortened season, combined with my own schedule, made running the site on my own impractical. He's recapped a few games for OPP already. Please join me in welcoming him aboard.

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The Orlando Magic (15-9) were able to overcome a season-high 25 total turnovers, including a career-high tying eight turnovers from Hedo Turkoglu, to stave off the Indiana Pacers (16-7) comeback attempt and hold on for a 85-81 victory, their third in a row. The Magic's Ryan Anderson hit four clutch free throws in the final ten seconds of the game to keep the Pacers at bay. Indiana came as close as 69-68 with just over seven minutes remaining, but the Magic were able to hold the Pacers off the rest of the way.

Dwight Howard led the way for the Magic with 27 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. Jason Richardson added 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists; Ryan Anderson had 12 points and 7 boards. For Indiana, Danny Granger led them in scoring with 19 points, and 7 rebounds, but shot just 4 of 16. Tyler Hansbrough led the Pacers' reserves with 17 points. Paul George, coming off a 30 point game Friday night, scored 13 points along with 7 rebounds and 5 assists. No one for the Pacers shot 50% or better from the field.

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The Orlando Magic held off a late rally by the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night to win their second straight game, 102-94, behind five players in double-figure scoring. Dwight Howard and Jason Richardson scored 19 apiece, while Hedo Turkoglu posted 18 points, seven boards, and four assists in leading the Magic past Cleveland.

The Cavs trailed by 21 points entering the final frame, but their three-guard lineup of Ramon Sessions, Kyrie Irving, and Alonzo Gee gave the Magic fits; the trio combined for 31 of Cleveland's 41 fourth-quarter points on 10-of-15 shooting. Gee drilled an 18-footer at the 1:48 mark to bring Cleveland to within five, but Turkoglu answered with a long deuce of his own on the Magic's ensuing possession to pad the host's lead. Cleveland hacked Howard, a 47.4 percent foul shooter, on the Magic's ensuing possessions in an attempt to prolong the game, but Howard shot 3-of-4 to seal the game.

In his Magic debut, point guard Ish Smith played nine minutes in relief of Chris Duhon, contributing two points, two rebounds, four assists, and no turnovers. Though backup center Glen Davis served the first of a two-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team, Howard played 38 minutes, only one more than his season average. Anderson shifted to center in some sets, with Earl Clark getting extended burn at power forward; he scored eight points on 3-of-9 shooting and snared five boards.

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As the Orlando Magic's recent stretch of six losses in eight games illustrated, they aren't a terribly good offensive team. They scored a franchise-low 56 points in a loss to the Boston Celtics, but also had outings of 67 points (against the New Orleans Hornets) and 69 points (against the Philadelphia 76ers) in that span. On the season, the Magic's average of 102.5 points per 100 possessions ranks 19th in the NBA.

Some new research might illuminate why a team stocked with such talent sometimes struggles to score. Tom Ziller, SB Nation's NBA editor, recently posted a story examining what he called offensive volatility, a measure of a given player's scoring average relative to his standard deviation from his scoring average. Among the 15 players averaging 20-plus points per game this season, Magic center Dwight Howard is the second-most volatile, with a rating of 41.5 percent. That means, in general, that Howard has a 41.5 percent chance of having an extreme scoring performance (eight points above or below his average) whenever he takes the floor. Contrast that figure with LeBron James', which leads the 20-plus-point scoring crowd at 20.8 percent, indicating James is almost exactly half as volatile a scorer as Howard. Phrased another way, James is almost exactly twice as reliable.

Ziller speculates that his high-volume, low-accuracy shooting from the foul line explains Howard's volatility. "Seeing a big man so high on the list fights conventional wisdom, which is that since big men tend to have higher shooting percentages, their production is more reliable," he writes. "While Kevin Love, Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge all seem to bolster that hypothesis with relatively low volatility marks, Howard -- a regular near the top of field goal percentage rankings -- is a blinking signal of doubt."

Howard's inconsistency on offense hurts the Magic enough, but it gets worse: He and Hedo Turkoglu are tied for the best volatility mark on the team. An Orlando Pinstriped Post study of the Magic's roster shows it's a collection of inconsistent scorers. The data are below the jump.

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Dwight Howard will start at center for the Eastern Conference when the NBA All-Star Game tips off in Orlando later this month, the NBA announced Thursday. The news is scarcely a surprise, as the 2012 game will mark fifth consecutive All-Star start for the Orlando Magic's franchise player. Howard led all players with 1,600,390 votes. Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant wasn't far behind, at 1,555,479 votes.

Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose, Miami Heat wings Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, and New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony will join Howard in the East's starting lineup. Out West, Lakers center Andrew Bynum, Los Angeles Clippers power forward Blake Griffin and point guard Chris Paul, and Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Kevin Durant are set to take the floor with Bryant when the game begins. Tipoff is set for 8 Eastern on TNT on Sunday, February 26th.

Relatedly, adidas unveiled the uniforms and special All-Star shoe colorways on Thursday. Howard will wear his signature adiPower Howard sneaker in an orange colorway. This special model will be made available for sale to the general public on February 23rd for $110 at eastbay.com, shopadidas.com, and Foot Locker. The shoe will also be on sale at the NBA All-Star Jam Session, which is held at the Orange County Convention Center from February 23rd-26th.

Jameer Nelson, Jason Richardson, and Hedo Turkoglu joined Howard in representing the host city on the ballot, but none of the three finished in the top 10 in fan voting at their respective positions. Unless the league's coaches vote Ryan Anderson in as a reserve, Howard will be Orlando's lone representative for the fifth time in his six career All-Star appearances; the coaches named Nelson and Rashard Lewis to the team in 2009.

Among Eastern Conference power forwards, Anderson ranks 3rd in scoring (16.5 points per game), 10th in rebounding (7.1 per game), second in True Shooting percentage (59.9 percent), and first in Player Efficiency Rating (23.8).

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The Orlando Magic (13-9) had a long-overdue offensive explosion, scoring 40 fourth quarter points to break open a 71-71 tie early in the quarter on their way to the 109-103 victory over the woeful Washington Wizards (4-19). The Magic's largest fourth quarter lead was 89-77, but Washington got as close as 104-100 before the Magic finally put the Wizards away.

Three Magic players scored over 20 points, led by Dwight Howard and Ryan Anderson with 23 points apiece. Howard added 18 rebounds and 4 steals, along with a respectable 11 of 16 from the free throw line, while Anderson shot 6 of 9 from three point range. J.J. Redick, starting in place of Jason Richardson at shooting guard, was very efficient while scoring 21 points on 5 of 7 shooting.

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