Mighty Mouse gets mightier

Dwight Howard is faster than a speeding bullet. He can jump tall buildings in a single bound. But when he went down to injury earlier this week and suffered through the pains of getting re-accustomed to the NBA pace of play, there was only one superhero who could answer the call.

Here comes Jameer Nelson to save the day.

Nelson has been Orlando's saving grace this past month. His stats in December alone are astounding.

The raw numbers: 20.9 points per game, 56 percent shooting, no less than 15 points in eight games this month and just one loss (by a point at that). You want more numbers: I won't pretend to understand the Hollinger-type stats quoted by Third Quarter Collapse here.

The praise is even coming from the always loud and controversial Mike Bianchi.

December has been an incredible month for the Magic. But it has been a coming out party for Nelson.

When everything has crumbled around him and his team, he has been the one to step up. His entire career in basketball has been that.

I am not going to lie. I am one of his doubters. I thought his perfect role was the one he filled his rookie season -- coming off the bench as a change of pace point guard who could score and distribute behind an established point guard. I thought his defense would never be that good.

As he earned the starting job, it became clear he could score at a pretty consistent rate and get the ball to others. But his defense remained suspect -- especially against Chauncey Billups and the big, bad Detroit Pistons.

This season, he has smashed all his doubters and has looked like a premier player in the NBA (especially the last week).

Nelson has become a starting point guard in the NBA. I believe he has his shortcomings (his height included in there) but he has the skills to overcome them.

He has done it his entire life. It has made him stronger. It has made him the perfect point guard for this Magic team.