Dwight Howard picked up his 12th technical foul of the season in Thursday night's win against the Knicks.

Per NBA rules, Howard will be suspended for one game when he reaches 16 technicals for the season.

Last season, Howard was whistled for his 16th technical foul in Orlando's 68th game of the season. The Magic have played just 33 contests this year.

Howard's father has been pleading with him to leave the referees only.

"He's 25," Howard Sr. said. "I can only say so much. Maybe it will get to the point his teammates will talk to him."

Patrick Ewing has confirmed that he had conversations with Michael Jordan about replacing Larry Brown as Charlotte's head coach.

He did not say if he was offered the job.

"I talk to Michael all the time, so there definitely was a phone call," Ewing said. "It depends on what we talked about."

Paul Silas was eventually named Bobcats coach.

"My aspirations have never changed," Ewing said of getting a head-coaching job. "We have two more years on our contract, so I'm happy."

Amar'e Stoudemire believes Dwight Howard's post game is limited, despite tutoring from Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon.

"He's definitely a physical specimen down there in the post," Stoudemire said. "He's a great defensive player. Offensively, he's a little limited, so we're going to use that to our advantage."

The Knicks hope Stoudemire can keep Howard away from the basket.

"Once he gets the ball in the paint, then he's tough to guard."

Dwight Howard mocked LeBron James during Orlando's visit to Cleveland on Tuesday night.

While near the visiting bench, Howard smiled to the crowd and mocked LeBron's famous chalk toss for fans sitting in close proximity.

The Magic are in need of a big man following their two blockbuster trades earlier this month.

Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated believes that New Jersey's Troy Murphy may be a possibility for Orlando.

"Don't be surprised if Orlando goes after Troy Murphy if Murphy is bought out after the deadline. Big, stretch four would fit the system," Mannix tweeted on Monday night.

The Bobcats may try to gain cap relief by offering Boris Diaw to the Magic in exchange for the expiring contract of Jason Richardson.

Diaw has a $9 million player option for next season, while Richardson's $14.4 million deal will come off the books this summer.

Jason Williams will miss Orlando's two-game road trip as he undergoes extensive testing on his sore left foot.

"It's not getting any better," Stan Van Gundy said. "J-Will gets on it and he has a hard time pushing off that foot. He's staying behind. He wants to know what's going on.

"I think he's a little nervous about it right now."

Williams said that doctors told him he has arthritis and that the pain has not subsided for six weeks.

Van Gundy said that Williams has not asked for his release.

He is injured and also playing behind Jameer Nelson, Gilbert Arenas and Chris Duhon on Orlando's depth chart.

The Magic want to add a big man for the postseason, but Otis Smith is in hurry to do so over the short-term.

"It's not high on my priority list right now," Smith said.

"High on my priority list now in winning. I need a big for the postseason. I need one for about five teams (during the regular season)."

Dwight Howard was assessed a rare delay of game violation because he took longer than 10 seconds to shoot a free throw against the Celtics on Saturday afternoon.

The NBA had warned the center about his deliberate pace at the free throw line previously.

Howard was called for the violation as he lined up to attempt his second of two free throws with 6:49 remaining in the second quarter.

He was then assessed a technical foul after he rolled the ball toward the baseline in what was viewed as a protest of the call.

"I can see if I was shooting 98 percent from the line," Howard said. "But I'm not. It's not stopping the game flow. It's a free throw. So the clock is stopped, period. I'm going to continue to do it."

Howard is shooting 55.6% from the foul line this season.

The Magic got a lift from Brandon Bass off the bench as they ended the Celtics' 14-game winning streak on Saturday afternoon.

Bass had 21 points and nine rebounds to key the 86-78 victory at Amway Center.

Orlando hit just 39.4% of their field goal attempts, but they outrebounded Boston by six.

In addition to the effort of Bass, the Magic got 16 points from Hedo Turkoglu and 11 rebounds from Dwight Howard.

The Celtics led by 10 points at halftime.

Kevin Garnett had 22 points and five rebounds, Paul Pierce tallied 18 points and eight boards and Glen Davis helped with 16 points and eight rebounds.