This post is sponsored by T-Mobile.
It's time for another installment in our regular T-Mobile Player of the Week feature. The Orlando Magic appear to have built some momentum, winning 3 of their 4 games last week with some strong individual performances. No one, however, contributed more to Orlando's success last week than Dwight Howard did.
| Dwight Howard |
Pts | Rebs | Ast | Stl | Blk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23.3 | 14.8 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 4.5 | |
 |
FG% | 3FG% | FT% | ||
| 60.8 | 54.4 | ||||
| eFG% | TS% | ||||
| 60.8 | 61.1 | ||||
Howard led the team in rebounding and blocked shots in all 4 games, and in scoring twice. He put on offensive clinics against the Memphis Grizzlies, Boston Celtics, and Atlanta Hawks while continuing to play stout defense on the other end, in each game. His free-throw shooting has returned to earth, but that's about the only flaw in his offense this week. He's rounding into form and proving he can carry a team with more than just rebounding and shot-blocking.
This race was incredibly close, though; Howard was not a fore-gone conclusion here. Rashard Lewis scored 18.5 points per game on 71.5% True Shooting and made the game-winning layup against Boston, which put him in strong consideration. And J.J. Redick's surprising burst of offense made him a candidate. But in the end, Howard's hard-fought 23.3 points per game, against solid competition, while controlling the paint on defense, was simply too much to ignore.