Along with Kobe Bryant (26.4 ppg) leading the league in scoring, Dwight Howard has also benefited greatly from the new run-and-gun offense under new head coach Mike D’Antoni. Even though D’Antoni has yet to make his debut on the sideline for the Lakers, the new head coach has already implemented his offensive style during practice and it is already paying dividends against opponents.
The Lakers have won four out of the last five games with the team eclipsing the 100-point mark each time. The offense is free-flowing and firing on all cylinders with every one of the team’s stars getting in on the action.
With every passing game, the Lakers continue to improve offensively and seem to be getting into more of a rhythm with no hesitation, confidence among the majority of the players and most importantly, chemistry.
Although the team is clicking offensively and lighting up the scoreboard in the process, Howard claims he’s still nowhere near 100 percent according to New York Times’ Howard Beck via Twitter:
Dwight Howard still says he’s just 75-80%, despite going for 28 pts, 13 rebs and 3 blks vs. Rockets tonight.
— Howard Beck (@HowardBeckNYT) November 19, 2012
In the first 10 games of the regular season, Howard has been as advertised averaging 20.0 points, 11.4 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game. All of these numbers are on par with his career averages with points (18.4) and blocks (2.2) slightly above and rebounds (13.0) a little below.
Needless to say, the Lakers have not been disappointed with Howard’s performance thus far as he’s currently living up to expectations the team had after pulling off the four-team trade for the superstar center.
If Howard is only around 80 percent back to form as he claims, it’s scary for Lakers opponents how dominant he’ll be on both ends of the floor once finally back to 100 percent.