In the five games before the Clippers, The Lakers' Howard had played just one of those games. In the game against the Jazz, Howard played 11 minutes, with 4 points and 5 rebounds on 1 of 3 shooting, and the Lakers also successfully reversed the Jazz in the final victory. In this game against the Clippers, because Davis could not play due to injury, many fans hoped that Howard would get more playing time.
In the first quarter of the game, the two teams were in equal shape, and the Clippers had a slight advantage, leading the Lakers by 2 points at the end of the quarter. In the second quarter, the Clippers, led by Kennard and Covington, played small climaxes to establish a 16-point lead, but in the end of the quarter, the Lakers narrowed the gap again, narrowing the gap to 10 points at the end of the half. Yi Bian fought again, and in the third quarter of the game, the storm suddenly changed, and the Lakers sent a 20:7 offensive climax to once surpass the score. In the final quarter, the two sides played inextricably, until the lakers failed to hit consecutive hits in the final moment, and the Clippers finally won 105:102.
In this game, although James scored a lakers team-high 21 points, compared to James, Howard's performance was better and more pleasing to lakers fans. Howard, who started the game, played 26 minutes, shooting 5-of-11, in addition to a large double-double with 14 points and 16 rebounds on 4-of-5 free throws, and delivered three big cap performances on the defensive end. Among them, Howard's rebounds and blocks in this campaign set a new season high. Despite eventually losing the game, Howard became the second-highest-negative player among the team's starters.
This game is Howard's 12th starter of the season as a team, due to Davis's unexpected injury, the Lakers had to make corresponding changes in the starting lineup, and Howard also delivered a satisfactory answer to the team and fans. On the offensive end, Howard had a strong offensive desire, getting the second-highest 11 shots of the season and hitting five of them. In the first quarter, Howard continued to shoot by receiving passes from teammates and grabbing rebounds, and in the first quarter he scored 8 points and got 4 free throws.
In the second quarter, Howard's basket offense was still sharp, scoring 6 points in a single quarter and scoring 14 points at halftime. Although he didn't score a single point in the second half, Howard in the first half put a lot of defensive pressure on the Clippers' basket. On the defensive end, Howard showed extremely strong defensive strength in this campaign, which greatly improved the Lakers' Howard's defense in the penalty area. Howard sent 3 blocks in the whole game, and these 3 blocks were all sent in the first quarter. This puts a lot of pressure on the Clippers' inside and outside players, making them afraid to easily break through the inside line.
Among them, in the first quarter of the game for only two minutes, the Lakers were snatched by the Clippers in an attack, and Howard immediately began to retreat, and followed the fast-moving Mann, giving the latter a cruel chase nail board hat. Shortly after the round, when the Clippers' interior Zubac received a pass and prepared to dunk, it was Howard who came out of the inside to give Zubac a big hat. These two big hats boosted the morale of the Lakers, and also made the Clippers players feel afraid of howard's guarded penalty area. When Howard is off the court, the Clippers' offense tends to be smoother.
In terms of grabbing rebounds, Howard also showed great power in this campaign. He grabbed 16 rebounds, including seven offensive rebounds, while the Clippers only grabbed seven offensive rebounds. With Howard's help, the Lakers scored 21 points on a second offense in this game, completely overpowering the Clippers in this regard. Throughout the game, Howard will try to grab the rebound almost every time a player shoots, and this kind of vitality is what the Lakers need very much. He also received a good return, grabbing 11 rebounds in the half and setting a new season high for rebounds.
Despite playing very well in this game, and Howard himself contributing to the team almost every round, even when he made a lot of efforts for the atmosphere and morale of the team, he was still not able to get the manager's reuse. In this game, Howard played only 26 minutes, ranking only third from the bottom among the players who played in this game. In the crucial fourth quarter of the game, Howard only got 2 minutes of playing time, and did not get any data at the same time, the Lakers eventually lost the game.
In fact, this campaign is also a microcosm of Howard's embarrassing situation this season. After deciding to return to the Lakers in the offseason, many fans have high hopes for him, after all, he helped the team win the championship and played very well during his time with the 76ers last season. But this season, Howard has not been reused, and in the limited playing time, Howard has not been able to play a more eye-catching performance. At the beginning of the season, Howard needed to compete with Jordan Jr. for playing time, and Howard was on the bench for a long time because the coach decided to make the latter the starter.
In the following time, because the Lakers changed to a small lineup and reduced his playing time without communicating with Jordan, which led to the latter being very dissatisfied and having conflicts with the coaching staff, Howard also gained more playing time, and he was also able to play excellent performances repeatedly. But the good times did not last long, and after a few games, Howard gradually fell out of the rotation of the team. So far, Howard has played in 43 games for the Lakers this season, averaging only 14.7 minutes of playing time per game, averaging only 5.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, and many statistics have set a new career low.
With Davis sidelined by injury, Howard has managed to regain his chance to start, and he has earned the team's trust through his performances. At the same time, Howard's performance in this battle also made the Lakers full of confidence, believing that in the case that Davis can not play in the next game, Howard will gradually get more playing time.