The last time we saw the Los Angeles Lakers, about a week ago when they were finishing with a small ball Houston Rockets in the second round of the play-ss, Kendra Dwight Howard and Jawale McGee rejoiced for the socially distant cheerleaders on the bench. An important role in a seemingly empty, fanless arena, although the future Hall of Famer and two-time NBA champion were not accustomed to.
But this is exactly what the Howard Lakers promised for this season, when they took him back to the organization after leaving a bad taste in everyone’s mouth after his organization’s bad work in 2012-13.
After meeting with Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka, coaches Frank Vogel and Jason Kidd and teammates LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Rajan Rondo, Howard assured them he would do whatever the team needed this season. To prove it, he came up with the idea of a guarantee agreement that would give the Lakers the ability to cut the bait at any time, thereby being responsible for his game and actions.
“Dwight had to prove to himself that he was ready for the role,” said Charles Briscoe, Howard’s agent. “He would have lost pretty much everything. He felt that if he wanted to get anything back, he would have to start from the bottom and work his way up.”
If the Lakers need to raise it, it will turn again. If he needed to be her cheerleader, because Houston’s small lineups didn’t fit him virtually, he would be a cheerleader.
“Old Dwight had something to say about it,” Brisco admitted. “But his mentality throughout the year has been about doing whatever it takes to win that championship.”
In the final match of this Western Conference against the Denver Nuggets, the Lakers were convinced that they would need Howard to defend All-NBA center Nicola Jokic.
They’ll be happy if he can give them a physical presence off the bench, draw a few fouls on the jockey and buy some time in the center so Davis can play his preferred position of power ahead.
On Friday night, in a 126-114 win over Denver in the vista of Lake Buena, Florida, the Lakers got more than they expected from Howard.
The moment Howard came to the boundary from the bench with 10 minutes left in the second quarter, he changed the dynamics of the game. He started wrestling with ok kicks inside as he fought for the post position. Howard cut the back door for alleys, drove hard into the basket, blocked two shots, made two steals and drew four fouls in his first seven minutes.
“It was my turn to go there once and always promised myself that if I got a chance to go back there, I would give my teammates whatever I had and put it all on the line,” Howard said. Just lost the 2009 NBA Finals with Orlando Magic.
Perhaps most importantly, because of Howard, Joaquim, Jamal Murray and Paul Mills chose their third personal vehicle and talked of taking a seat before halftime. Although the Lakers did not extend their lead when they were out of the three key nuggets, it seemed to put the players in foul trouble that they would push them forward.
“I think I got off to a really good start,” Jockey said. “Then I had three fouls, which kind of turned me off.”
Joaquim and Murray continued their momentum in their seven-game series win over the LG Clippers, scoring or assisting in the Nuggets’ 38 first-quarter 29 points. Nougat led 38-36 at the end of the first quarter. But the Lakers took a 20-3 lead in the first 5:35 of the second quarter, and never got ahead again.
Jockey picked up two offensive fouls – in the second quarter: 22: 2 after wrestling with the remaining Howard – he had to sit out the rest. Although getting out of the wrong trouble became an important center for Jockey coming into the series, this was the first time in his post-season career that he had taken three fouls in the first half.
Howard was so effective for the Lakers in the first half that Vogel started it in the second half, and in 39 seconds he made a fourth foul on the jockey.
Murray and Joaquim each finished with respectable 21 points, but Denver needed a lot more than its two young stars to upset the Lakers in the series. The pass-happy jockey recorded only two assists, which ESPN. According to statistics and data research, during the regular season or postseason of 2019-20 is engaged in its second lowest match in any sport.
Asked later about how the game is handled, Murray lamented, “Just try to play through it. It’s tough. They want to talk about everything and have a full conversation and what happens. Trying to manipulate, but you know, you can’t worry about it. We know how it’s going to happen, we know we’re a young team. We’re just going to play through it. We’ll find a way. We will not go easy. “
None of the big men from Denver were particularly effective in defending Davis, who finished with points and 10 rebounds. According to ESPN statistics and data, Davis scored 13 points against Jockey on 4-for-6 shooting, 11 points against MillsSap on 3-for-6 shooting, six points against Mason Plumley on 2-for-3 shooting and two points against each. . Jeremy Grant and Murray.
How much did the wrong trouble contribute to their defense? It’s hard to say against Davis, who was named the first team All-NBA to center this year ahead of Joaquim, as new rules allow him to qualify as center.
Denver, of course, has a very recent history of recovering from a series loss, beating the Utah Jazz and Clippers 3-1 in this playoff.
The Lakers also dropped the first game in their first two series. They will lose Game 1, make adjustments and then win four in a row. On Friday night, it felt like they only needed a quarter to adjust against the Nuggets.
“It’s very difficult to defend these guys, and it will take some time to find all the cove bridges and be sharp with them. We know cove lage, but sometimes it takes a while to figure out the team,” Vogel said. Said. .
“I thought we’d focus on detail, attention, physique, effort in the second quarter. I’ve challenged our people to be one of those games where we’ve left the big first quarter, let’s go to the 20-point quarter, 20 – Point quarter, 20-point quarter. They answered it. They definitely got attention and there was a strong defensive game after the first. “
Vogel did not single out Howard to change the dynamics of the game, noting that he has lost a significant amount of weight this season since he built his body after last surgery last season.
There weren’t many people who believed that Howard could return to the NBA after that surgery, the second time in his career that he had a back operation. So many of Howard’s games – early in his NBA career he won the Dunk Contest and the Defensive Player of the Year awards – were built on exceptional strength for his size and ability to jump.
But the Lakers gave him a chance, because like Howard, he didn’t have many other options.
.
