FanHouse Dwight Howard

ORLANDO -- Magic center Dwight Howard arrived at Amway Arena for Friday night's game against the New Jersey Nets to find a handwritten note in his locker.

It was signed by the same guy who had been prodding him the past couple days, criticizing him for his lack of energy, his rebounding drop off and his sudden inability to block shots.

Howard read the note twice, then left it where he could see it again at halftime. He also saw it after the game, and he smiled.

"There is no one better or smarter in the NBA. All you need to do is play with great energy and enthusiasm,'' the note said. It was signed "Stan,'' as in Coach Van Gundy.

ORLANDO -- If Dwight Howard wants to keep that Superman moniker -- if he wants to deliver on his promise to bring an NBA title to Orlando -- he better turn his game up another notch real soon.

Playing Shaquille O'Neal -- who is well past his prime and 14 years older -- to an uninspired standstill like he did Wednesday night won't get his team anywhere close to the Finals again.

He knows it. And his coach certainly does, too. The Defensive Player of the Year and defending rebounding champion has been rather pedestrian lately.

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

Nobody celebrates a loss quite like the Chicago Bulls. In all fairness, at first glance it looked like Brad Miller had hit the game-winner as time expired. Unfortunately, the red light never lies.

Joakim Noah had the best line of the game with 12 points and 21 rebounds. He now has reached double-digits in all but one game this season. He also added two blocks, giving him 11 total over the last four games. Teammate Derrick Rose chipped in with 22 points on 10-of-17 shooting, five assists, a steal, two blocks and no turnovers. If he's not 100-percent healthy, he sure looks like it.

For the Nuggets it was Carmelo Anthony who once again led the team in scoring with 20 points. Kenyon Martin played despite a minor leg injury and doubled up with 15 points and 10 rebounds. What about Earl? Well, J.R. 'Earl' Smith returned from hit seven-game suspension to come off the bench for 29 minutes, scoring five points on 1-of-9 shooting. He just needs to shake off the rust.

It's hard not to like Shaquille O'Neal, the most compelling NBA player of his era and arguably the best center in history. His love of the spotlight, his often-outrageous, sometimes-egotistical, always-entertaining behavior made him a must-see attraction since he entered the league with Orlando a long, long time ago.

It's why there will be some sadness in seeing him get destroyed on his former home court Wednesday night by Dwight Howard.

Sometimes, you hear rumors about NBA players doing crazy things with women. That's just part of the game, though. Do you know what I am saying? But still, when I heard that Dwight Howard allegedly (bold = important, obvs) whipped out his, ahem, member at porn star Mary Carey while in the bathroom of N'Sync member Chris Kirkpatrick's house, well, let's just say I was shocked.

But that's the story she was preaching on the radio earlier this week.

ORLANDO -- Coming to the defense of his All-Star center, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy didn't criticize the officials Wednesday night -- he didn't want another fine -- but he was clearly critical of the way Dwight Howard is being officiated this season.

Howard, the biggest, strongest, best center in the NBA, is being unfairly penalized, according to Van Gundy.

"He gets penalized for being so strong. We give guys an advantage in this league for being quick, but we penalize them for being strong like Dwight,'' Van Gundy said after Howard finished with 11 fouls in the last two games combined. "If you hit a perimeter guy on a drive the way they are allowed to hit Dwight all the time around the basket, it would be a flagrant foul.''

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

It was the premiere matchup of the evening, Kobe Bryant versus Kevin Durant. It took an extra five minutes to decide the contest, but in the end it was Kobe and the Lakers coming out on top by a three-point margin. Bryant dropped 31 points on 9-of-22 shooting, while Durant scored 28 points on 10-of-24 shooting, missing all eight of his three-point attempts.

Andrew Bynum chipped in with 22 points and 10 rebounds, but the real story might have been Ron Artest finally putting it all together. He scored 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting and picked off five steals. It's about time!

Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the lig. Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.

It's not every day that we get to see a player hit for 40 points or more in an NBA game. So on Sunday, when we had three different players meet or surpass the mark, it's definitely something worth discussing.

Especially when two of them did it in the same game.