On January 5, Beijing time, the 2021-22 NBA regular season was in full swing. In today's Western Focus battle, the Lakers defeated the Kings 122-114 at home, achieving three consecutive wins, and the record became 20-19, and the winning percentage returned to more than 50%.
The Lakers were able to win today, and Howard was instrumental. Throughout the game, Howard played 21 minutes and had 14 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals on 6-of-12 shooting, plus-minus +11.
At the end of the first quarter with three minutes left, Howard came off the bench and he quickly completed two dunks, one of which was a Reeves pass, completed a two-handed gliding dunk, and another goal was to grab a rebound in the frontcourt that Westbrook missed, and then dunked.
In the second quarter, Howard was in better shape. James deflected three-pointers and Howard grabbed a rebound in front of him to make a basket, and then caused two fouls to hit all of them. And that wasn't the end of it, Howard then received consecutive passes from Munch to complete the empty dunk. In the first half of the game alone, Howard has already cut 12 points and 8 rebounds!
In the 3rd quarter, Howard was reused again and again contributed 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal. In addition to consistently performing well on the offensive end, Howard has repeatedly caused fouls and turnovers on the defensive end. In the final quarter, Howard grabbed a key frontcourt rebound and assisted Munch to hit a three-pointer to help the Lakers chase only one point.
Howard's outstanding performance also attracted heated discussion among fans, and he was quickly rushed to the hot search by fans. Many fans said that Howard's performance today seemed to let them see him at his peak, and even some fans found photos of Howard wearing a Superman cloak to the dunk contest.
It has to be said that although Howard is 36 years old this year, he still has oil in his tank. As long as he is given a chance, he can still surprise the team. I believe that with today's excellent performance, he will get more opportunities to play in the future.