Mark L. Baer-US PRESSWIRE

We all know Dwight Howard‘s situation – he waived his Early Termination Option at the trade deadline. He is scheduled to become a restricted free agent after the 2012-13 season, but most expect the Magic to trade him before that happens.

The Magic used a three-man rotation of Howard, Ryan Anderson and Glen Davis this season (and Earl Clark at different times) with second-year man Daniel Orton seeing action when Howard went down with his back injury.

Anderson is a restricted free agent, Clark has a player option worth $1,240,000 and Davis has three years and $19.4 million left on his deal. Orton is an unrestricted free agent. RookieJustin Haprer has one year left on his deal worth $762,195.

Clearly, the Magic showed they lacked a true center to throw into games for Howard and although Davis did an admirable job at center, that’s something that needs to be addressed this offseason. Plus, the Magic could lose Howard, Anderson, Clark and Orton, meaning they may spend a lot of their offseason looking for other options up front.

First, we’ll take a look at some of the unrestricted free agents the Magic may be interested in.

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(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, ESPN Florida’s Magic Insider (http://ESPNFlorida.com) and is the co-host of the ESPNFlorida.com Insiders Show Sunday mornings at 10:00 am EST. Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Facebook and follow him onTwitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here)

Greg M. Cooper-US PRESSWIRE

The Orlando Magic gave another excellent effort, but couldn’t quite catch the Boston Celtics, falling 102-98.

Paul Pierce was the star, scoring 29 points, dishing out 14 assists and grabbing five rebounds. Glen Davis had another big night, leading the Magic with 27 points on an impressive 12-of-16 shooting.

Orlando had their chances late – they had two great looks to tie the game with just over (and under) two minutes to play, but neither J.J. Redick or Jameer Nelson could knock down an open three-pointer. Despite then falling behind by six, Orlando cut Boston’s once 13-point lead to two on a Davis steal-and-score, but Pierce knocked down a typical Paul Pierce jumper with seven seconds left and iced the game with two free throws about five seconds later.

The Celtics’ offense was excellent for the most part. They were aggressive and got good looks from the basket. Of course, Paul Pierce hit several of his customary tough shots, but for the game, Boston shot 54.3% from the field and got to the foul line 27 times (and hit 23 of them, 85.2%). The Magic defense did get better as the game went on – Boston was a scorching 14-of-19 from the field in the first quarter and 9-of-18 in the second quarter before cooling off in the third and fourth – they were 15-of-33 in the second half. Kevin Garnett had a rough night, shooting 6-of-15 from the field, but Avery Bradley, playing because of injuries to Ray Allen, Mickael Pietrus and Rajon Rondo, had a huge night. He carved up the Magic defense, scoring 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting. Brandon Bass chipped in 21 points on a very efficient 7-of-11 shooting.

Conversely, the Magic again played pretty well on the offensive end. They were dreadful from beyond the arc (6-of-24, 25.0%), but took the game inside despite Boston’s size advantage with Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu out. Orlando scored 54 points in the paint and did a better job of getting to the hoop – drives by Davis, Jameer Nelson and Von Wafer stand out.

Davis was especially good. Entering the game, he claimed he wanted to score 50 points. He didn’t quite do that, but scoring 27 points on 12-of-16 shooting is very impressive. He also grabbed seven rebounds and recorded three steals while helping to hold Garnett to just 6-of-15 shooting from the field. After the game, Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy raved about Davis’s play on both ends.

• Jameer Nelson had another good game, going for 21 points, nine assists and four rebounds despite shooting just 7-of-19 from the field.
• Chris Duhon was a -19 in 11 minutes. Magic fans continue to be in an uproar over Van Gundy’s decision to use Duhon instead of Ish Smith and it’s difficult to disagree with them.
• Earl Clark left the game with a “sore left knee” per Dante Marchitelli of the FS Florida broadcast.

Next Up: The Magic will be in Utah to take on the Jazz Saturday night.

Final Thought: The Magic played tough again and to be honest, this loss may help them avoid the Celtics in the postseason.

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, ESPN Florida’s Magic Insider (http://ESPNFlorida.com) and is the co-host of the ESPNFlorida.com Insiders Show Sunday mornings at 10:00 am EST. Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Facebook and follow him onTwitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here)