Magic-Lakers Preview

By JORDAN GARRETSON
Posted Dec 01 2012 5:17PM

Dwight Howard played the first 621 games and eight seasons of his career with the Orlando Magic. He'll be competing against them for the first time Sunday night in Los Angeles.

With Howard coming off his best game with his new team, the Lakers appearing more comfortable in their new coach's offense and the Magic struggling, the six-time All-Star seems to be in the better position to win any bragging rights.

The Lakers (8-8) acquired Howard in August with a four-team deal that also sent Andrew Bynum to Philadelphia. The Magic received Josh McRoberts and Christian Eyenga from Los Angeles, Arron Afflalo and Al Harrington from Denver, Maurice Harkless and Nikola Vucevic from the 76ers and five future draft picks.

Howard averaged 18.4 points, 13.0 rebounds and 2.2 blocks over his tenure with the Magic, highlighted by a run to the 2009 NBA finals. Orlando returned to the Eastern Conference finals the next season but failed to make it out of the first round in each of the last two as Howard's relationship with the franchise soured.

"It's going to be a little weird playing against my former team," said Howard, whose averages of 18.6 points and 11.1 boards as a Laker are well below his marks from last season. "But we need a good win. So I'll put all my effort into getting ready for the next game, playing with a lot of intensity and just having fun."

Howard did that in a 122-103 home win over Denver on Friday, posting 28 points and a season-high 20 rebounds after failing to grab 10 in four straight games. He shot 12 of 16 from the field and made the second 3-pointer of his career - one of 17 by Los Angeles.

The Lakers had lost three of four but recorded their highest scoring total under coach Mike D'Antoni, who is 3-3 since taking over. They were only three days removed from a barrage of criticism after scoring 77 in a loss to Indiana in what already has been a turbulent season.

Los Angeles scored 71 in the first half Friday, finishing with a season-high 33 assists and shooting 54.0 percent. Kobe Bryant had a season-low 14 points - he's averaging 26.9 - but handed out eight assists as the Lakers improved to 8-1 when he has five or more.

"It's the way we want to play," D'Antoni said. "We've got a lot of talent out there, and it's got to mesh, and the ball has got to move."

Antawn Jamison scored 33 of the Lakers' 61 bench points, their most since getting 66 against Dallas on Jan. 3, 2010. Jodie Meeks scored 21 on seven 3-pointers off the Los Angeles bench, which remains among the league's worst at 23.6 points per game.

Orlando (5-10) won its first two games but has since dropped 10 of 13, with a 98-86 defeat to Brooklyn on Friday marking its third straight loss. Afflalo had a season-low five points to drop his average to 14.7, falling behind Glen Davis (14.8) for the team lead.

"I don't care (about facing Howard and the Lakers)," said Davis, who hasn't reached 20 points in a game since totaling 51 during the 2-0 start. "Dwight's got his own problems and we've got problems over here."

The loss of Howard was huge, but the Magic also have been decimated by injuries. Jameer Nelson sat out Friday because of a sore left Achilles tendon as Orlando fell to 1-6 without the point guard, who previously missed time with hamstring and groin injuries. Nelson is considered day-to-day and will be re-evaluated for Sunday's game.

Orlando is still without Hedo Turkoglu (broken hand) and Harrington (knee surgery) and has started eight different lineups.

The Magic have won six of the last nine meetings, though Howard was at their disposal and had 21 points and 23 rebounds in a 92-80 victory in last season's only matchup.

Orlando beats Dwight Howard's Lakers in reunion

By GREG BEACHAM
Posted Dec 03 2012 10:55AM

LOS ANGELES (AP) Dwight Howard wasn't his usually playful self in the Los Angeles Lakers' locker room. He refused to answer certain questions and shared few personal thoughts about his ugly reunion with the Orlando Magic.

"It wasn't emotional," Howard said.

Maybe that was part of the problem - and one reason the Magic left the reunion with their biggest win of the season.

Arron Afflalo scored 30 points, Glen Davis added 23 points and 12 rebounds, and the Magic beat Howard's Lakers in their first game against their longtime center, 113-103 on Sunday night.

Howard had 21 points and 15 rebounds against his former team, but the rebuilding Magic rallied impressively with a 40-point fourth quarter for just their fourth win in 14 games, snapping a three-game skid. Orlando pulled the upset partly by intentionally fouling Howard, who went 9 for 21 at the line - including 7 for 14 in the fourth quarter.

The Magic made their decisive 12-2 run while Howard wasn't helping the Lakers at the line in the final minutes, with Nelson and J.J. Redick hitting 3-pointers along the way.

Howard's first few months with the Lakers haven't gone the way he might have expected after the four-team, 12-player trade in August: a sub-.500 record, a shocking coaching change, an injured point guard and an unsightly amplification of Howard's career-long woes at the free-throw line, where he has dropped to 46.5 percent (87 for 187) for the season.

"As a team, our effort wasn't there," Howard said. "We have to start the game with energy and play the whole game the same way. We didn't do that tonight, and they capitalized on it and they got a win."

Howard left the court after the game without shaking hands with the Magic - not that he has many close friends left in blue pinstripes anyway. Orlando has new coach Jacque Vaughn, a new front-office staff and just five players who played with Howard.

"Let Dwight be Dwight. If he wants to walk off the court, it's cool," said Davis, who overlapped with Howard only last season in Orlando. "No hard feelings. He lost. I'd feel bad, too. I wouldn't want to shake nobody's hand. We weren't even really thinking about him. We just wanted to get this win. I didn't talk to him. I'm here to play basketball. I'm not here to be buddies."

Kobe Bryant scored 34 points for the Lakers, who dropped to 3-4 under new coach Mike D'Antoni with another inconsistent performance featuring deficient defense. Metta World Peace scored 15 points and Pau Gasol added 11 for the Lakers, who went back to poor form just two nights after a 122-point effort in a blowout win over Denver.

"Seems like we can't get out of our own way," D'Antoni said. "I think our problem is just not coming out with the intensity and the purpose that we need to have. ... We're slow right now. Just athletically, we're struggling with young teams that run up and down."

Jameer Nelson had 19 points and 13 assists after nearly sitting out with tendinitis during the Magic's most impressive win under Vaughn. Orlando also started a stretch of five road games in eight days with just its second road win all season.

Afflalo, the former UCLA star who moved from Denver to Orlando in the trade that sent Howard to the Lakers, had his highest-scoring game in a Magic uniform.

"The way we lost the past three games, I'm sure our fans just wanted to see us win in general," Afflalo said. "But for us to kick-start this road trip by playing well, against the Lakers in particular, they should be proud of that. It's a huge confidence boost for us."

Vaughn said before the game that the Magic wouldn't hesitate to force Howard to beat them at the free-throw line in a close game. Howard missed seven of his first nine free throws against the Magic before finishing with more free-throw attempts than the entire Orlando roster, which went 19 for 20.

"That kind of got us out of our rhythm a little bit," said Antawn Jamison, who scored 10 points for Los Angeles. "But it's unexplainable ... to play the way we did tonight after playing so well the other night."

Howard spent the past eight years as the face of the Orlando franchise since the Magic plucked him out of his Atlanta high school with the first pick in the 2004 draft. He made six All-Star teams and won the NBA's defensive player of the year award three times, leading the Magic to the 2009 NBA finals during five straight playoff appearances.

It all fell apart over the previous two seasons when Howard criticized the organization, flirted with numerous trades and eventually bumped heads with coach Stan Van Gundy. Howard missed the end of last season with a herniated disc in his back.

NOTES: The Lakers don't visit Orlando until March 12. ... World Peace hit the 1,000th 3-pointer of his career in the third quarter. ... Lakers G Steve Nash did shooting and dribbling work on the court before the game. The two-time MVP has missed 15 straight games with a small fracture in his right leg, and the Lakers aren't sure when he'll return.

Notebook: Magic 113, Lakers 103

Dan Arritt, for NBA.com
Posted Mon Dec 03, 2012 1:42 AM - Updated Mon Dec 03, 2012 1:42 AM

THE FACTS: Trailing by four points late in the third quarter, the Magic changed tactics Sunday night against the Lakers and purposely sent Dwight Howard to the one spot where he has failed to succeed in his career -- the free-throw line. Orlando repeatedly fouled the L.A. center down the stretch of the third quarter and again midway through the fourth. Howard responded by missing 10 of 18 free throws, taking the spirit out of the Lakers and opening the door for his former team to climb back and win, 113-103.

THE STAT: Despite making six All-Star teams in his first eight seasons in Orlando, Howard has never been an accurate free-throw shooter, hovering just above 50 percent for his career coming into this season. But his struggles have grown steadily worse this season and were certainly magnified against the Magic. He shot 9-for-21 overall at the line, dropping his season percentage to 46.5. In the last three games, he's a combined 15-for-42 (35.7 percent) from the stripe.

QUOTABLE: "It means a lot to me. We can all say it was just a basketball game, but we know. ..."

-- Orlando point guard Jameer Nelson

TURNING POINT: Howard actually made his first two free throws when he was intentionally fouled by J.J. Redick with 5:52 remaining in the game and Orlando leading by two. He made another with 4:28 left to keep the Lakers within a point, but Glen Davis made a spot-up jumper on the other end of the floor, Metta World Peace missed a 3-pointer for the Lakers and Redick drained a 3-pointer for a 95-89 lead. Redick then purposely fouled Howard again and he missed both free throws. Jameer Nelson then sank another 3-pointer for the Magic and suddenly they were up by nine points with 3:19 remaining.

HOT: Coming back home to Southern California has always provided added inspiration for Orlando guard Arron Afflalo and he certainly pleased his friends and family in attendance. Affalo finished with 30 points -- two off his career high -- making 11 of 18 shots, including 4-for-8 from 3-point range. Afflalo had seven of the Magic's 40 points in the final quarter.

NOT: Since Howard's struggles from the line have already been well-documented, another disturbing trend has been the chill that's enveloped the shot of Lakers guard Kobe Bryant. He scored 34 points but shot just 12-for-27 from the floor. In the last three games, he's a combined 29-for-70 from the field (41.4 percent). After a sizzling start to the season, he's below 50 percent for the first time.

GOOD MOVE: Orlando coach Jacques Vaughn, who at 37 years of age is the youngest coach in the NBA, indicated before the game that he planned to intentionally foul Howard. He kept to his word, maybe even starting sooner than many expected. The decision to send Howard to the line -- and the ensuing results -- seemed to rattle the Lakers on both ends of the floor as they gave up several uncontested dunks in the closing minutes.

BAD MOVE: Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni had the option of subbing Antawn Jamison for Howard and moving 7-footer Pau Gasol to center, but he elected to send Gasol to the bench instead with 6:07 remaining and the Lakers clinging to a one-point lead.

QUOTABLE II: "You take [Howard] out, that's drawing a big line. He'll make his foul shots. That's not killing us."

-- D'Antoni

NOTABLE: Nelson was a late addition to the starting lineup after missing Friday's loss against the Nets with tendonitis in his Achilles. He finished with 19 points and a season-high 13 assists. ... The Lakers are 1-6 when Bryant scores at least 30 points. ... The Magic have yet to beat a team that currently has a winning record this season. ... The Magic were 3-for-26 from 3-point range their last two games and missed their first seven against the Lakers before finishing 8 for 23. ... David Beckham was in his usual courtside seat one day after clinching the MLS Cup for the L.A. Galaxy. He was given a nice ovation when shown on the big screen.

UP NEXT: For the Lakers, Tuesday @ Houston, Wednesday @ New Orleans, Friday @ Oklahoma City. For the Magic, Monday @ Golden State, Wednesday @ Utah, Friday @ Sacramento.

• Magic: Harrington, Turkoglu
• Lakers: Johnson-Odom, Nash, Sacre

• Magic: McRoberts
• Lakers: --

• Lead Changes: 10
• Times Tied: 11

• Arena: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Officials: #31 Scott Wall, #63 Derek Richardson, #23 Jason Phillips
• Attendance: 18997
• Duration: 2:17