Lakers fall to Spurs, Dwight Howard fading in spotlight
By Daniel Nicks
Apr 24, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard (12) reacts after being called for an offensive foul during game two of the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs against the San Antonio Spurs at AT
The Lakers came into Wednesday night’s contest with the San Antonio Spurs knowing that they desperately needed to shoot a higher percentage to stand a chance, and they did – but so did the Spurs.
The Lakers improved to 45.1 percent from the floor after a pedestrian 37 percent in game 1.
However the Spurs, who shot just 38 percent in game 1, also elevated their shooting percentage. One-upping the Lakers to the tune of over 50 percent from the field and beyond the arc.
Which in essence tells the story of not only this game but the series to this point – the Spurs are simply one step ahead.
Some of which can be attributed to the play of Dwight Howard.
Howard came into the series with an opportunity to show that he is a viable number one option for L.A. moving forward. That said, he’s fallen well short of that mark for the second straight game and continues to look like a human pretzel trying to defend a 36-year-old Tim Duncan.
And it’s not that Howard is necessarily playing poorly, as much as it is he’s just not playing at a level offensively that warrants a title of the most dominant center in the league. He still has yet to register more than 20 attempts in a game this season.
If the Lakers are going to have a fighting chance this postseason, he’ll have to start taking more attempts than Metta World Peace.
Anyone else miss Kobe yet?