As if dealing with Dwight Howard, his future with the Orlando Magic and whether or not he wants head 
coach Stan Van Gundy gone, comes this about Howard’s health heading into the playoffs.
The Magic will rest Howard for 10 days due to an ailing back and will be reevaluated once the 10-day break is done according to GM Otis Smith. However, there is a possibility he will also be out of action come playoff time for Orlando.
Smith acknowledged that there is no guarantee that Howard, who has a herniated disk in his lower back and has suffered from persistent back spasms, will be available when the playoffs are scheduled to begin on April 28.
Coach Van Gundy also confirmed Howard’s playoff availability as questionable as well.
“Look, anytime you have a guy on that kind of timetable you’ve got to assume that the playoffs are a 50-50 thing,” Van Gundy said. “So we’ve got to go forward assuming that what’s in our locker room is our team going forward.”
Howard has missed five overall games for the Magic due to his lower back injury (Orlando initially labeled it as “back spasms”) and at this point in the season with the playoffs fast approaching, this was a wise decision to shut Howard down.
Currently, Orlando is in sixth play in the East playoff run and are sitting 11 games behind the Bulls but are only one-and-a-half games out of fourth place (Celtics are currently fourth) which would secure them home court advantage in the first-round. So despite losing Howard for an extended period of time, it is still not out of the realm of possibility for Orlando to move up the playoff standings.
However, it might be best for Orlando to just stay in sixth place. Indiana is sitting in the third spot in the East playoffs and this season, the Magic are 3-1 versus the Pacers. Against the Hawks (sitting at the fifth spot in the East), the Magic are 0-3, and against the Celtics, they are 0-2.
