LOS ANGELES — Dwight Howard had just come off a 28-point, 13-rebound, three-block detonation against the Rockets Sunday. And he announced that A) he and Kobe Bryant — who had a triple double — still are not on the same page and B) he still is only at 75 to 80 percent health following back surgery.
Good luck, Nets.
“They have a great point guard and a pretty good team, so we just have to play hard,” Howard, leading with Deron Williams, said of the Nets who visit Staples Center here Tuesday night.
And then Howard turned his attention to Brook Lopez.
“He’s tough. He knows how to score,” Howard, who has averaged 17.1 points and 12.9 rebounds in 28 career games against the Nets, said of Lopez. “They look for him a lot in the offense, they have a lot of great plays.
“But the main thing is making him work on the other end, making him run even though I’m not in the best shape,” Howard said. “Just make him run and force him to get out and play pick-and-rolls. A lot of bigs don’t like that so we’ll do that a couple times and then hit him in the chest a couple times on the offensive end and that will tire him out.”
Brooklyn and Howard, of course, was deemed to be a match made in NBA trade conference calls last season but it never worked out. Howard is here where the Lakers have shown early response to Mike D’Antoni’s offense — and D’Antoni may debut against Brooklyn — with a couple ultra high powered scoring games. They beat Phoenix, 114-102 Friday, then whipped Houston 119-108 Sunday when D’Antoni, who is coming off knee-replacement surgery, delayed his debut for at least one more game.
“I love it here. The fans have been great. My teammates have been great. It’s everything I’ve ever dreamed for and prayed for. I’m happy,” Howard said.
And he’ll be even happier when Kobe and he really click.
“You know, me and Kobe really got to get better at playing together, but it takes time,” Howard said. “We’re trying to read each other and at the same time we both want to be aggressive. So we just got to learn how to play and mix our talents together and win games.”
And there was a time — when he favored Brooklyn — that Howard never saw himself mixing his talents with any Laker.
“I’ve come to the best organization in the history of the NBA … Everything happens for a reason. There’s a reason I didn’t go to Brooklyn. There’s a reason I’m here in L.A.,” said Howard who noted the opportunities of the Nets where he eventually found the same perks. “The difference was, I would tell people I didn’t want to come here and people would think I was trying to follow in somebody else’s footsteps, be just like somebody else.”
That would be Shaquille O’Neal.
“Once I got here, I felt there was no need to worry about people saying I’m following somebody else,” Howard said. “I’ll blaze my own trail while I’m here and that’s what I plan on doing.”