On February 26, Beijing time, the Clippers played against the Lakers, and after Davis was injured, Howard got more opportunities, and he started this time and staged an outbreak. Howard got 14 points and 16 boards, 5 of 11 shots, and also sent 3 blocks and 1 steal, and had a wonderful performance on both ends of the offensive and defensive ends. After Davis was gone, Howard carried the Lakers' interior line. But in the final quarter, Howard only played 2 minutes and was hidden by Vogel. In the end, the Lakers lost 102-105, Vogel became a sinner, the Lakers have lost to the Clippers three times this season, suffered three kills by the Clippers, and lost again is a sweep.
Howard was really hard at work in the Lakers, and when the Lakers didn't need him, Howard was abandoned and didn't even have a second to play. But Howard had no complaints and sat on the bench to cheer on his teammates. And when Davis is injured and the Lakers need him, Howard can stand up and do his best to help the Lakers. Such a Howard is too rare, if it were not for Howard, the Lakers would have been blown up in this game. Howard actively grabbed the board, actively defended, created a lot of opportunities for the Lakers, took the basic salary contract, but did the work of a billion-dollar star.
This time Howard broke out in the first quarter, and Mann tried to break through, only to be blocked by Howard. After James missed three points, Howard also grabbed the rebound and successfully scored under the basket. Howard delivered blocks several times, grabbed rebounds in a row, and even assisted Westbrook to score. After Westbrook broke through behind, it was Howard who grabbed the board to score a basket. Howard actually does not have the ball, almost all of them rely on their own board to score, in the inside of the continuous foul, free throws scored, he scored 8 points and 9 boards in the first quarter, which is very eye-catching.
When Howard rested in the second quarter, the Clippers' offense immediately improved, scoring consecutive points and successfully opening up some point differences. Howard returned to the court, scored, and then grabbed the board to make up the basket. Howard became a rebounding killer, and it wasn't long before Westbrook was blocked, and Howard grabbed back to make up for the basket. Unfortunately, the rest of the Lakers played too badly, or the Clippers pulled apart the double-digit point difference. Howard's chances are still too few, and the Lakers should give Howard more ball. Howard won many shots on his own, grabbed the ball without the ball, and won a lot of points by making up for the basket.
Although Howard is 36 years old and has a basic salary contract, he beat Zubac with him. Howard's defense also did a good job, the Lakers' defense in the second half improved significantly, and Howard did a good job of restricting the Clippers, making the Clippers unable to break in. The Lakers' offense also improved, chasing the score back. But Vogel was a bit iron, Howard played so well, but played a small lineup for a long time. And the Clippers were also not polite, successfully surpassing the score. Howard came back to play for a while, and Vogel immediately replaced it, still sticking to the small lineup. As a result, the Clippers successfully overtook, the two sides were controversially awarded a penalty, the Clippers challenged successfully, and James stepped on the line first. But then the Lakers also challenged successfully, and the Clippers violated the 8-second violation. However, Anthony missed three points, and the Lakers still lost.
Howard was really too hard to feel unfair for him. He played well in this game without receiving the corresponding respect. His performance in this way is actually very punching Vogel and proving himself with actions. In the past, Vogel insisted on not using Howard, and now he has to use it, but Howard broke out. Unfortunately, Vogel still did not let Howard play at the crucial moment. Howard earns only $2.64 million a year, but he plays much better than Westbrook, who has a lot of ball rights, but is not very efficient. On the contrary, Howard has grabbed the board many times and fought for opportunities by his own efforts, so Howard deserves more opportunities from the Lakers.