Hedo

Turkoglu

The Magic have one of the league’s best offenses, but their defense needed work, and Christie is the better defender. Mobley, meanwhile, is always among the league leaders in minutes, while Christie is averaging 32.1 mpg and isn’t likely to exceed that amount very often as he deals with nagging injuries.

Manu Ginobili could get a chance to return to the starting lineup tonight.

Turkoglu will resume his bench role now that Doug Christie is with the Magic.

Turkoglu took on a significant role while Chris Webber is out, but he’s played just seven minutes over the last two games.

Turkoglu described Turkey coach Bogdan Tanjevic’s decision to leave him off the roster for the world championships as an “injustice.” He claimed Tanjevic said he would never play for Turkey while it was under the coach’s control. “The answer I got really saddened me,” he said. “I think I didn’t deserve this kind of injustice. He (Tanjevic) said he didn’t need me, told me not to come to the national team.”

“I see the lockout process as an opportunity for myself to spend more time with my daughter and family,” said Turkoglu. He had been ‘listening’ to offers from Spain and Turkey but nothing persuaded him to make the leap -- now the 32-year-old can rest, hopefully stay in shape, and look forward to a playoff run with Orlando in 2011-12.

Turkoglu took over primary ball-handling duties with Jameer Nelson (knee) resting, and he has proven enough to be worth owning throughout the break. We’ll be paying particularly close attention to how he splits those duties going forward with Nelson.

Nelson also tweaked an ankle mid-way through the game but it wasn’t a huge deal. Hedo Turkoglu scored 11 points with three rebounds and three assists, and we’re seeing a shift of PG duties back toward Nelson. Plan accordingly.

There’s nothing to analyze here other than to highlight how a team forcing Howard to beat them one-on-one, focusing on the declining surrounding cast instead, is usually going to win if they’re any good. Jameer Nelson scored nine points with just one assist, Jason Richardson hit 1-of-7 shots for two points, Ryan Anderson hit two threes for 10 points with five boards, and Hedo Turkoglu scored seven points with four rebounds, a steal, and an assist in the loss.

Ouch. J.J. Redick and Von Wafer become guys to look at as pickups with this news, and Jameer Nelson is going to handle all of the playmaking duties going forward.