Being Dwight isn't easy

While an MVP showdown between Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard and Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose would have been nice for the fans of Orlando to see, Sunday's off day might not be such a bad thing for Howard.

After his 18th technical foul of the season netted him a one-game suspension, Howard won't be available for the 1 p.m. ET tip, but it's probably best for the superstar big man and his team that he gets an afternoon off, anyway.

Because being Dwight Howard isn't easy.

Howard has played 2,862 physically taxing minutes in 76 games this season, for an average of 37.7 minutes per game. He is 10th in the NBA in total minutes played and 12th in the league in minutes per game. Among true centers, Howard is the league leader in both categories.

Other players – Monta Ellis, Blake Griffin, LeBron James and Kevin Durant, to name a few – may have spent more time on the court, but there isn't a player in the world – not a center, not a guard, not a forward – who absorbs the punishment Howard endures night in and night out.

Put an average NBA player in Howard's shoes and he's lucky to survive the season with all of his limbs still attached, much less excel the way Howard has this season. But Howard has persevered and averaged a career-high 23.1 points per game while pulling down 14.1 rebounds a night.

There's not a way to quantify the beating Howard takes on a nightly basis, but all you have to do is watch one Magic game to get the idea. He gets scratched, punched, kicked, grabbed, smacked and worse on a nightly basis.

Every game brings new blood and new bruises for the league's top center, but not once this year has an official decided that the contact Howard takes is excessive. Howard hasn't been on the receiving end of a single flagrant foul this season, a statistic that completely baffles Howard and his coach, Stan Van Gundy.

Need tangible evidence to support the claim that Howard takes more abuse than anyone else in the league?

Howard averages 11.8 free-throw attempts per game; the next most attempts belong to Durant, Griffin and Dwyane Wade, who all average 8.6 per night.

Howard has taken 898 free throws this season – 217 more attempts than Griffin, the next-most fouled player in the NBA. And trust me, each one of Howard's trips to the foul line was well earned. Players make sure they get their money's worth when they put Howard on the line because the other option is an easy two points for the Magic.

This is not a new phenomenon for Howard. Last year, he averaged nearly 35 minutes per game and was third in the league in free-throw attempts per game. In 2008-09, he averaged nearly 36 minutes per game and led the league in free-throw attempts per game.

Howard is hurt and exhausted – understandably – and he's said he needs the rest. And the Magic need him to be at the top of his game when the playoffs start next weekend.

So while it's frustrating in the short term, maybe Sunday's suspension will be a blessing in disguise in the end.

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NBA roundup: Bulls win, clinch top spot in East

CLEVELAND -- Carlos Boozer scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to help the Chicago Bulls clinch the top seed in the Eastern Conference with a 93-82 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night.

Chicago, which has won six straight and 18 of 20, will have home-court advantage in the first three rounds of the playoffs. The Bulls hadn't finished with the best record in the East since 1997-98.

New York 116, New Jersey 93: Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as the visiting Knicks won their sixth straight to end a franchise-worst streak of nine straight losing seasons.

Indiana 114, Atlanta 102: Danny Granger scored 28 points for the host Pacers, who have won five of their past six and ended a nine-game losing streak against the Hawks.

Philadelphia 98, Toronto 93: The host 76ers, who already clinched their first playoff appearance in two years, snapped a three-game losing streak, and with 41 wins and two games left, they can finish with a winning record for the first time since 2004-05.

Miami 112, Charlotte 103: Chris Bosh scored 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Dwyane Wade returned from injury to score 27 more for the host Heat.

Boston 104, Washington 88: Rajon Rondo scored 20 points and with 14 assists for the host Celtics. Pierce and Kevin Garnett also had double-doubles for Boston, which remains tied with Miami for the Eastern Conference's second spot.

NEW JERSEY: The NBA has fined the Nets $50,000 because hip-hop mogul and part-owner Jay-Z went into the Kentucky locker room after the Wildcats clinched a berth in the Final Four. League spokesman Tim Frank confirmed the fine Friday before the Nets played the New York Knicks at the Prudential Center. NBA rules prohibit team personnel from having contact with players who are not yet draft eligible.

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Teemu Selanne leads Ducks into playoffs

Teemu Selanne looked at his surroundings a little more intently Friday at Honda Center, as if he were committing everything to memory in case it turned out to be his last home game as a Duck.

But Selanne, who will be 41 this summer a few days after his contract expires, wasn't ready for the team's season — or his stellar career — to end just yet.

The Finnish right wing scored twice against the Kings on Friday to give the Ducks a 2-1 victory that locked up a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs, beating goaltender Jonathan Quick for the decisive goal thanks to a spectacular, off-balance pass from compatriot Saku Koivu 5:54 into the third period.

It's the first time the Ducks and Kings have qualified for the playoffs in the same season and makes their rematch Saturday at Staples Center slightly less dramatic but still important because it will determine where each will finish among the top eight.

For the Ducks, who started the season slowly and lost several key players at various times — they had to start Dan Ellis in goal Friday because Ray Emery had a lingering lower-body injury — earning an extension of the season was a hard-earned reward.

"It has been grinding the last three months and I really believed this team deserved to be in the playoffs," Selanne said after scoring his 30th and 31st goals and moving up to 27th place on the NHL career scoring list with 1,340 points.

"That's why this was a big step forward. Now at least we can breathe a little bit."

The Kings had secured their spot earlier in the week but were motivated by the possibility of finishing fourth in the West and gaining home-ice advantage in the playoffs.

They played a hard, fierce game before a sellout crowd at Honda Center that included a loud contingent of Kings fans, but even the Kings acknowledged they had been beaten by an extraordinary effort by an extraordinary player.

"You do anything you can do to slow that guy down," said defenseman Matt Greene, who tried to get a body on Selanne at every opportunity and often succeeded.

"He's a Hall of Famer and rightfully should be. He still brings it every night…. He just gets the job done night in, night out. He's a stud."

Kings winger Wayne Simmonds, who again teamed with Kyle Clifford and Brad Richardson on the team's most dangerous line, also paid tribute to his rival.

"Selanne is a great player," Simmonds said. "Let him get a shot from the slot and no telling what can happen, and tonight he got two."

Simmonds had an excellent chance of his own from the slot late in the first period, with the Kings holding a 1-0 lead on Ryan Smyth's rebound of a Dustin Brown shot, but Ellis leaned forward to stop him. "A game-changer," Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle called it.

Selanne brought the Ducks even at 9:55 of the second period. Jason Blake dug the puck out and passed it to Luca Sbisa, whose long shot was blocked by Kings defenseman Rob Scuderi. The rebound came to the right side to Selanne, who lifted it past Quick.

Blake started the play that turned into the winner by taking the puck along the left-wing boards in his own zone and passing to Koivu, who saw Selanne on the right side. Though Koivu was falling he managed to pass to Selanne, who lifted a shot from the inner edge of the right circle.

"You look at him and you don't think he's 40 years old," Carlyle said of Selanne. "He's in his happy place."

The Kings were less than happy about another low-scoring game — they've scored only 10 goals in six games without the injured Anze Kopitar and their power play, no great shakes with Kopitar in the lineup, is 0 for 16 without him. They're sixth and the Ducks seventh entering Saturday's rematch.

"We kind of let our foot off the pedal in the second half of the game," Simmonds said. "I think we could have done better."

No one did it better than Selanne on Friday.

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