Howard loses in possibly last game with Magic to Spurs - USA TODAY

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Howard loses in possibly last game with Magic to Spurs - USA TODAY Mar 15th 2012, 03:32 SAN ANTONIO (AP) – Dwight Howard lost perhaps his last game with the Orlando Magic, declaring before a 122-111 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night that he won't surrender his right to become a free agent this summer. Bahram Mark Sobhani, AP Orlando center Dwight Howard lost perhaps his last game with the Magic Wednesday night to the San Antonio Spurs. Howard had 22 points and 12 rebounds on the eve of the NBA trade deadline, and his refusal to give the Magic the ultimate assurance he'll be back may weaken Orlando's hesitation to trade their superstar. The trade deadline is 3 p.m. Thursday. Tony Parker had 31 points and 12 assists, and Tim Duncan had 21 points and 13 rebounds as the Spurs closed a seven-game homestand by hosting the NBA's biggest drama. Parker, averaging 29.8 points in his last four games, was serenaded by chants of "M-V-P! M-V-P!" in the closing minutes. Magic spokesman George Galante confirmed that Howard informed the team before Wednesday night's game against the Spurs that he will not waive the early termination clause in his contact, which would have guaranteed Howard sticking around at least one more season. Howard's decision was first reported by ESPN. Howard said publicly this week he wants to finish the season in Orlando and encouraged the front office to "roll the dice" on re-signing him this summer. The Magic, however, are looking for stronger assurances they can realistically hang onto the NBA's most dominant big man. If the Magic don't trade Howard, they risk the 26-year-old signing elsewhere and getting nothing in return for a perennial All-Star hitting his prime. It's a scenario the franchise is loath to repeat after Shaquille O'Neal did the same in 1996. Howard did not speak to reporters before the game amid talk of him calling a team meeting earlier in San Antonio to discuss his future. Neither general manager Otis Smith nor team president Alex Martins made the trip to Texas. Magic coach Stan Van Gundy batted down pregame questions about Howard's meeting. "I don't even want to talk about it. It's so tiresome," Van Gundy said. "I've been dealing with this for three months. Nothing's fresh to me. Talk to somebody else about it." Jameer Nelson scored 25 points and Ryan Anderson added 19 for Orlando. Hedo Turkoglu scored 17. Howard asked the Magic to trade him before the season, but has since rescinded that request. He said after Tuesday's night overtime win against Miami that his change of heart wasn't new. "Well, I told those guys, I've been telling them for the past two or three weeks now that I want to stay and finish the season," Howard said Tuesday night. "I told them I feel we have a great opportunity to win and I told them that I want to be here and I want to bring a championship here. I told them they've got to give me that chance. They didn't trade me at the beginning of the season and I told them I'd go out and play as hard as I could every night to put our team in a position to win." The Magic are 28-16 and 7 games behind first-place Chicago. Howard is averaging 21.2 points and a career-best 15.2 rebounds. Provisions in the league's new collective bargaining agreement give the Magic the ability to offer Howard $30 million more than any other team if he becomes a free agent. Orlando can offer him a five-year contract extension with 7.5 percent annual raises, while other teams are tapped out at offering a four-year pact with only 4.5 percent raises. Manu Ginobili returned to the bench while recovering from a hip flexor, scoring 14 points in 23 minutes. Rookie Kawhi Leonard had 12 points and Richard Jefferson added 11. Parker wad 12 of 21 from the floor and scored 31 for a second consecutive game. The Spurs have their own trade-deadline decision to make — albeit of far more trivial consequence. The abrupt retirement of T.J. Ford this week leaves San Antonio without a backup point guard, and the Spurs have played down one frontcourt player all season after Antonio McDyess decided to call it quits on his 17-year career. The likelihood of a Spurs trade, however, is dim with the team already paying the NBA's luxury tax. Notes: Magic F Jason Richardson (ankle sprain) missed his third consecutive game. …The Spurs ended their seven-game homestand at 4-3. Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com. 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