Dwight Howard, playing through a sore shoulder, had 22 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks on 7-of-8 shooting Friday against the Pistons. Perhaps more importantly, he hit 8-of-9 free throws and has now hit 15-of-17 from the line in his last two games. We need to see him do that in a couple more straight games, but it is possible his free throw woes could be cured this year.

Dwight Howard carried the Magic in Friday's 110-103 win over the Pistons, as he generated 22 points and 12 boards. He also chipped in three assists and two blocks.

Our View: Howard also managed to sink 9-of-10 shots from the charity stripe. The stud center has four double-doubles over six games so far this season.

The Magic will observe a moment of silence before Friday night's game against the Pistons, to honor the victims of a downtown Orlando shooting. Questions were initially raised about the status of Friday's game, but Magic spokesman Joel Glass said the game will start, as scheduled, at 7 p.m.Source: Orlando Sentinel

The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that the Magic have waived Linton Johnson. Johnson was mad the original roster to fill in for the injured Adonal Foyle, but the team decided it wasn't necessary to keep him on.

Our View: The Magic don'[t have many practice dates scheduled between now and the time that Foyle is expected to return, so there was no reason to keep him on the roster. He wasn't going to dress for games anyway, so this move won't affect the landscape in Orlando.

Foyle said Tuesday that is knee is feeling good following arthroscopic surgery last week, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

Spin: Foyle said he he was originally expected to miss six-to-eight weeks, but he is planning to push his rehab in hopes or returning sooner.Wed, Oct 28

Foyle (knee) will miss the beginning of the regular season, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

Spin: Foyle recently underwent knee surgery and is out indefinitely. Linton Johnson will take Foyle's spot on the roster until Foyle is able to return to the court.Mon, Oct 26

Updating an earlier item, Ryan Anderson will likely be out on Sunday when the Magic take on the Thunder, according to the Orlando Sentinel. An MRI has revealed, however, that his ankle injury is not particularly serious.

Our View: With Rashard Lewis due back from suspension in nine games, Anderson's time as a worthwhile fantasy contributor is quickly running out.

Ryan Anderson is set to undergo an MRI on Saturday morning after severely spraining his ankle on Friday night, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Our View: He went down in the third quarter of Orlando's win over the Pistons. The team knows for sure that the ankle is just sprained, and not broken, but the MRI will determine the severity. He almost certainly will not play in the team's next game on Sunday. Anderson is averaging 15 points and five rebounds per game so far this season filling in for the suspended Rashard Lewis.

News: The Orlando Sentinel reports that Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said Thursday that he will start suspended forward Rashard Lewis the very game he becomes eligible. There will be no easing Lewis into the lineup. Lewis, suspended by the league for the first 10 games of the season for taking a banned supplement, can play on Nov. 16 against the Charlotte Bobcats at home. "I'm starting him the first game --- for who, I don't know," Van Gundy said. "It's like when we got Rafer (Alston) at midseason last year. When you know a guy is going to be there long term, you don't mess around."

Analysis: Lewis will likely start at power forward despite the fact the team had planned on having Lewis move back to his more natural power forward position. That will leave Mickael Pietrus as a starter and would push Ryan Anderson -- despite his strong recent play -- to the bench. Lewis will be a must-start Fantasy option as soon as he returns

Barnes fell just one rebound short of logging his second straight double-double as he finished Friday's game against Detroit with 18 points, nine rebounds, and three assists.

Spin: While Barnes has been a good source of rebounds and steals early on, he has also been quite inefficient, shooting 39.2 percent from the field and averaging 2.5 turnovers through six games. He'll slowly be more and more phased out of the rotation as Vince Carter (ankle) and Rashard Lewis (suspension) return.Sat, Nov 7

Matt Barnes started again over Mickael Pietrus and hit 4-of-12 shots and a 3-pointer on his way to 18 points, nine rebounds, three assists and a steal in Friday's win over the Pistons. Barnes is playing well right now and worth a short-term look, but will not be nearly as enticing once Vince Carter (ankle) and Rashard Lewis (suspension) are back in the starting lineup.Related: Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis

Barnes started Wednesday's game against the Suns at small forward and finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Spin: Barnes also recorded three three-pointers, five assists, and two steals in the game. Starting small forward Mickael Pietrus (illness) returned to the team on Wednesday; and though Pietrus came off the bench against the Suns, he will likely return to the starting lineup when the Magic face the Pistons on Friday. That would signal a return to the bench for Barnes.Thu, Nov 5

Nelson dished out 10 assists and only committed one turnover in Orlando's victory over Phoenix on Wednesday night.

Spin: Nelson had his best game of the season in terms of distributing the ball and also finished with 16 points, his second highest total of the season. This is the type of production fantasy owners should expect from Nelson, so hopefully he begins to provide it on a fairly consistent basis.Thu, Nov 5

Jameer Nelson hit 7-of-13 shots for 16 points and a season-high 10 assists in Wednesday's win over the Suns. Nelson is starting to come on for the Magic and has an outside shot at making the All-Star team this year. He should a permanent fixture in starting fantasy lineups.

News: Magic PG Jameer Nelson helped the team defeat the Suns on Wednesday night. Nelson scored 16 points on 7 of 13 shooting over 24 minutes on the court. He added 10 assists.

Analysis: Nelson has been largely mediocre thus far this season. He has scored nine or fewer points in three of his five games but the other two were 30 and 16-point efforts. All that would be fine as long as he continues putting up solid assist numbers but Wednesday was the first time he's been in double figures in that category. He has shot poorly thus far but we're sure he'll turn that around. We expect plenty of double-digit games in both points and assists. Nelson remains a high-end Fantasy PG

Anthony Johnson missed the Magic's game on Friday for "personal reasons," according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Our View: There hasn't been any indication that he will be out Sunday. That being said, Johnson is a role player with no fantasy value.

Anthony Johnson missed Friday's game for personal reasons. He's expected to be back in time for Sunday's meeting with Oklahoma City, not that it matters.Source: Orlando Sentinel

News: The Orlando Sentinel reports that Anthony Johnson has left the team due to the death of his father in law. He is expected to return Sunday.

Analysis: Johnson is not a player that gets many minutes in the rotation for the Magic and for that reason should not be owned in Fantasy. Leave him on waivers

Pietrus (illness) came off the bench to score 15 points in Orlando's victory over Phoenix on Wednesday.

Spin: Matt Barnes started at small forward, but likely only because the Magic coaching staff did not know what they would get from the under-the-weather Pietrus. The Magic play again on Friday night, so check the starting lineup to see which player head coach Stan Van Gundy elects to go with.Thu, Nov 5

Mickael Pietrus had 15 points on 3-of-6 shooting in a return from the flu on Wednesday. He came off the bench behind Matt Barnes, while Vince Carter was out with a mild ankle sprain. Once Carter is back, and Rashard Lewis returns from a 10-game suspension, Pietrus and Barnes are both going to struggle to offer much value.

News: Mickael Pietrus returned to the Magic's lineup Wednesday after missing two straight games with flu-like symptoms. He is averaging 7.5 points and 5.0 rebounds in two games played.

Analysis: Pietrus had 13 points in the team's opener, but had just 2 points in the second game. He should be very up-and-down all season and is not a recommended starter in Fantasy yet. Leave him reserved until further notice