Slowly but surely, Dwight Howard is regaining his health and explosiveness, thus morphing back into the old Dwight Howard. Last night in a 113-102 Lakers win against the Sacramento Kings, Howard punched in two consecutive oops, and dominated the game defensively. Per the OC Register: “Kobe Bryant sat out because of his ankle sprain, opening the door for Dwight Howard to lead the Lakers for the first time. And Howard knew to lead his way instead of trying to lead Bryant’s way. Howard stuck to defense and rebounding principles that have keyed the Lakers’ late-season surge and didn’t try to overdo his individual offense to fill Bryant’s void. The result was a nice team victory Sunday night over the Sacramento Kings, 113-102. The 36-32 Lakers are four games better than .500 for the first time this season. ‘For me,’ Howard said afterward, ‘it starts on defense.’ Bryant didn’t even appear on the bench during the game to do any coaching, but reserves Antawn Jamison (27 points, nine rebounds) and Steve Blake (16 points, eight assists, five rebounds) converted the additional opportunities they got without Bryant and with good Lakers ball movement. Howard had 12 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks, clearly taking pride in the Lakers’ team defense that faltered periodically but held up well enough because of how active and vocal Howard was. It was Howard’s 14th consecutive game with at least 12 rebounds — tying his career high for such a streak and bettering anything anyone in the league has done this season.”
