This attitude is what the Magic need more of. From Dwight's comments after the Magic beat the Wizards on Wednesday:

"Everybody knows what LeBron did, everybody remembers," Magic center Dwight Howard said. "I want to be remembered."

[....]

"We want Toronto to feel like they're in hell."

I want Dwight to be remembered, too, and not just for the Superman dunk. He can ascend from Superstardom to, uh, Superduperstardom (?) if he can dominate in the playoffs. As much as we worry about not having anyone who can guard Chris Bosh, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that somebody on the Raptors has to guard Howard. On whom will the Raptors call? How has Dwight done against that person historically?

Enter Rasho Nesterovic, the veteran center who's having a career renaissance in April, averaging 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 60% shooting from the field. But the focus of this piece is defense, so let's get to it. 82games shows us that he held opposing centers to a PER of 13.8 this season. That's all well and good, but how did he and Dwight do against one another in the regular season? Let's take a look:

These resources can't tell us who guarded whom in these stretches, so take the results with a grain of salt. However, it's reasonable to assume that Dwight and Rasho were indeed matched-up with one another. That was most evident in the third game, when the Raptors were without Bosh. Dwight scored 19 points in 29 minutes, but the play-by-play shows he did most of that damage when Rasho was off the floor. Overall, Dwight's total of 12 points in 26:36 against Nesterovic puts him on pace for 16.2 points per 36 minutes, well below his season average of 19.8 points per 36, which suggests that the Raptors can indeed rely on Nesterovic to contain Howard.

But can they afford to play him heavy minutes? Does he negatively impact the offense? While the Raptors are nearly 6 points worse per 100 possessions when Nesterovic is on the court, they shouldn't fret; when on the floor with the Raptors' other starters (T.J. Ford, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, and Bosh), Toronto outscores its opponent 82% of the time.

But...

When Dwight's motivated, he's awesome. After Stan Van Gundy famously called him out for his lack of effort, Dwight responded with a 23-point, 24-rebound effort against the Denver Nuggets, who employ Marcus Camby, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, at center.

So, one table and several paragraphs later, we're no closer to figuring out how Dwight will do against Rasho. Considering that Chris Bosh will get his points (probably 35 a game), and that Jamario Moon's athleticism poses problems for Hedo Turkoglu, it's important that Dwight at least scores at his usual rate. He's had trouble with Nesterovic in the past, but the playoffs are a different animal.

And so is Dwight.

	vs.
2-2		3-1
Air Canada Centre
7:00 PM
FSN Florida
Probable starters:
T.J. Ford	PG	Carlos Arroyo
Anthony Parker	SG	Keith Bogans
Jason Kapono	SF	Hedo Turkoglu
Chris Bosh	PF	Rashard Lewis
Andrea Bargnani	C	Dwight Howard

25 words or fewer: Two teams expected to contend for division championships square off in the second half of back-to-back games.

Know your enemy: The Raptors got crushed by the Bucks last night, but that shouldn't make us feel any better. Toronto was one of two teams to beat us four times in the regular season in 2006/2007.

Useless information: Toronto center Andrea Bargnani, the first overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft, has eligibility at small forward, power forward, and center in Yahoo! Sports fantasy leagues.

Bullet points:

• Despite the fact that both teams played last night, the Raptors should still be favored. Why? Because they got blown out, only one of their starters, T.J. Ford, played more than 20 minutes. Their starting lineup should be well-rested, not to mention motivated.
• Contrast the Raptors' situation with that of the Magic, who played all their starters at least 31 minutes last night. Considering the Magic bench's ineptitude so far, we fans should be worried.
• No word yet on if Jameer Nelson is feeling well enough to start tonight. He'll be re-evaluated later today.
• Considering the Raptors' abundance of international players, shouldn't Carlos Arroyo start anyway? He loves international competition. He absolutely shredded the Chinese National Team while getting starters' minutes in an exhibition game last month.
• The Orlando Sentinel's game preview notes the Magic have not won a game in Canada since 2003. Juwan Howard and Drew Gooden posted double-doubles in that game for Orlando, and Tracy McGrady scored 29 points.
• Chris Bosh is, like Chauncey Billups and Jannero Pargo, a Magic Killer. In 11 career games against the Magic, CB4 has averaged 20.8 points. The only team against which he has averaged more points is Charlotte.