In the NBA regular season, the Lakers sat at home to meet the Spurs, and this game was a farewell battle between the Lakers and staples Center, because the Lakers' arena has completed the name change. Compared to Staples' iconic name change, perhaps a win will be more important for the Lakers, after all, they have suffered three consecutive losses, and the team is in prison and urgently needs to get out of the slump. In this game, the Lakers faced the Spurs who did not have the same record as their own, and there was almost no way back, acting coach Fitzdale made adjustments to the starting lineup before the game, Jordan Jr. was removed, and Howard, who was abandoned after the last comeback, started the game and played a brilliant performance.
In this game, the Lakers' starting lineup is Westbrook, Ellington, Tucker, James and Howard, which is the starting lineup framework of the Lakers in the past period, but it is only an adjustment to the position of the center. Howard did not disappoint after starting, he brought a lot of help to the Lakers in the frame and defense.
In the first quarter of the game, Howard played 8 minutes, 1 shot 1, contributed 2 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block of the attack and defense of the full performance, there are points, there are passes, there are defenses, active rebounding scrambling, to ensure that the Lakers' interior line will not be at a disadvantage. Although Howard's movement is also a little slow today, his attitude on the court seems to be better than jordan jr., and the role of attack and defense is more active. After Howard went off, Fitzdale reused the five small lineups, and the Lakers' offensive rhythm improved, but because the team's outside shooting felt bad, the team continued to play iron, and the Spurs took the opportunity to achieve a rebound. Before Howard came off, the Lakers only trailed by 1 point 19-20, but after Howard came off, the Lakers suffered a power outage on both ends of the attack and defense, and at one point they were hit by the opponent with a wave of 10-2 small climax, the score was pulled away to 21-29, and with 37 seconds left, Fitzdale had to re-send Howard to guard the box, and after playing, he sent another block to block the opponent's interior attack, and after the end of the quarter, the Lakers fell behind 24-33!
Throughout the first quarter, James was still the most stable offensive point of the whole team, he played 9 minutes and 33 seconds, 4 of 6 shots, 1 of 1 three-pointer, cut 9 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists, and staged a back-to-back single in the game. Howard had 2 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 blocks, and the defensive end was very eye-catching. Westbrook had 5 points and 1 rebound on 1-of-4 shooting, Ellington had 4 points, and Tucker scored 2 points on free throws on 0-of-3.
In the first quarter of the game, the problem exposed by the Lakers is still a cliché, Howard started to help the inside line is very large, the team played the traditional lineup can start a tug-of-war with the opponent, but when they changed to play the small lineup, not only the forbidden area can not be protected, the outside 3 points have also been repeatedly lost, and the failure to hit the shot also makes the small lineup lose its due threat, and he failed to fight back, but because he did not hit the basket in a row, he was hit by the opponent many times to open the score.