Nelson sits out practice with illness, game status in doubt

Jameer Nelson sat out the Orlando Magic’s practice on Tuesday because he was sick, leaving his status in doubt for tonight’s game against the Houston Rockets at Amway Center.

Coach Jacque Vaughn advised Nelson to remain at home Tuesday in order to prevent him from passing on the illness to any other Magic players.

But swingman Arron Afflalo practiced with his teammates after he missed the Magic’s last five games — the first three because of a sprained ankle, the fourth because of an illness and the fifth because Vaughn wanted Afflalo to practice before he returned to game action.

Afflalo expects to play against the Rockets.

Second10-days

The Magic will re-sign center Dewayne Dedmon and swingman Adonis Thomas to second 10-day contracts, the Orlando Sentinel has learned.

Dedmon and Thomas were signed to their first 10-day contracts on Feb. 25, and those contracts will expire at 11:59 p.m. Thurs- day

team may sign each individual player to two 10-day contracts during a single season.

After the end of a second 10-day contract, the team has the choice of signing the player for the remainder of the season or letting the player return to the free-agent pool.

Dedmon, who had prior NBA regular-season experience with the Golden State Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers, has played in one game for the Magic for a total of three minutes.

Thomas has played in two games for the Magic. He made his NBA regularseason debut during Saturday night’s loss to the Miami Heat. He played almost nine minutes during Sunday night’s win over the 76ers.

“It’s a dream come true,” Thomas said when asked about those two games.

Thomas and Dedmon took part in their second official Magic practices on Tuesday.

Rogowski back

The Magic will air a video tribute to Dwight How- ard during the first quarter tonight — continuing the video tributes that have occurred all season for visiting players and coaches who once were members of the Magic.

But Howard isn’t the only member of the Rockets’ traveling party with Magic ties.

The Rockets’ new head strength and conditioning coach is Joe Rogowski, who spent seven seasons in that role with the Magic and received rave reviews from Magic players and coaches.

The Magic will mention Rogowski during the tribute that will revolve around Howard.

This season, whenever visiting teams have had multiple players or coaches with Magic ties, the Magic have combined the tributes.

Loud expectations

Howard’s return to Orlando last season lured a sellout crowd to Amway Center.

The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Magic 106-97 as Howard scored 39 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.

It was one of the loudest crowds at Amway Center all season. But although Howard was booed and also was heckled by some courtside fans, the reception was nowhere as vociferous as it was for LeBron James during his first game in Cleveland after he joined the Miami Heat.

Still, Magic players appreciated the fan support that night against the Lakers.

“It was a big game,” center Nik Vucevic recalled. “The arena was packed, and obviously when you play the Lakers there’s a special intensity. It was a fun game to be a part of, because the fans really wanted us to beat them. Unfortunately, we didn’t really do that. Dwight had a big game as well. It’s fun playing in games like that. When the crowd is really into it, the players feel it.”