The Washington Wizards will be hosting the Dwight Howard circus on Tuesday at the Verizon Center, but apparently, the circus won't include Howard himself. A back injury will hold Howard out for both of the Magic's next two games, the second of which is on Tuesday. Via Evan Dunlap at Orlando Pinstriped Post:

The Orlando Magic will host the Detroit Pistons on Monday without superstar center Dwight Howard, who battled through back spasms to play in Orlando's last two games, but did so "at a personal price," coach Stan Van Gundy said. As John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com reports, Howard's back has gotten worse, and as a result he will sit out until at least Friday's crucial matchup against the Atlanta Hawks, whom Orlando is battling for playoff positioning, to allow it to heal. He will also miss Tuesday's game against the Washington Wizards.

Howard almost never misses games, so for him to not play shows he's probably in a lot of pain. That is, of course, unless you think he's deliberately trying to sabotage Stan Van Gundy.

In any event, the task of winning on Tuesday just became a lot easier.