In the home game against the 76ers, the Lakers interior Howard performed very well, facing the defense of Embiid, the league's top center, and he played his best performance of the season. In the 28 minutes of his opening game, he had 24 points and eight rebounds on 9-of-14 shooting, setting a new single-game scoring record for his single-game scoring record for the season. Howard's presence in the game is very strong, in the confrontation with Embiid, he is not behind, as a 36-year-old veteran, in the face of embiid at the peak, he can also get 24+8 data, such a play is not easy. From the performance point of view, this is enough to see that Howard's current state is very good, although the Lakers eventually lost the game, but Howard's performance is commendable.
In this game, Howard not only got 24+8 statistics, he also proved that he could coexist with Westbrook. I believe that many fans know that after Wei Shao joined the Lakers, many people believe that the Lakers need a space-type interior line, Howard and Wei Shao are players who do not have the ability to shoot, and it is difficult for these two players to play an efficient performance on the court at the same time.
In this season, Vogel has also deliberately prevented Westbrook and Howard from playing more time at the same time, and every time Westbrook appears on the court, Howard needs to go off, Vogel has been avoiding letting these two players play at the same time.
However, in the game against the 76ers, Howard and Westbrook appeared in the game at the same time for most of the time, and they did not affect each other's play, although Howard is an inside line that does not have outside shots, but his high blocking quality is very good, and the basket finish is very efficient. In this game, Westbrook and Howard have completed the connection many times, especially the next pass effect after the blocking is very good, the 76ers in the face of the Lakers such an offensive strategy, they did not have a good way to limit, allowing Howard to easily complete 6 layups under the basket.
With the help of Howard's cover, Westbrook can also break through to the basket to complete the score, this game he hit 8 of the 10 layups under the basket, shooting a rate of 80%, which is higher than his season average. Judging from this game, it is undeniable that Westbrook and Howard can coexist, and after the two players are paired, each other's shooting efficiency is very high, and they can help the team in the game, which is conducive to the better of both sides.
In my opinion, this situation is very difficult for the Lakers now, because they are only 2 wins ahead of the 11th-place Spurs in the West, and the team's playoff seats are not stable. In the next game, they need to win more so that the team can stabilize their current ranking, and Howard appears in the starting lineup, the effect is very good, the team wins are more, and Westbrook can coexist with Howard, Vogel does not need to deliberately avoid two players in the game at the same time.
In this case, Vogel wants to enter the play-offs, he still needs to reuse Howard in the last few games, give up his five small play style, which will help the team to become better, Howard's presence can improve the team's internal strength, but also help Westbrook to play a more efficient performance, which is helpful for the team. In the final moments of the regular season, whether Vogel will reuse Howard and let him continue to play with Westbrook is worth looking forward to.