Dwight Howard's messy departure from Orlando was not received well by Magic fans. In fact, his constant waffling on whether to stay or leave got so bad it was termed the "Dwightmare." So when he returned to Amway Arena Tuesday night to lusty booing and character-assassinating signs in the stands, the Lakers big man was not surprised.
Following the Lakers 106-97 win Howard said "I wasn't nervous tonight. I was looking forward to playing here. It was a hostile environment, but I think that was something that was good for me. For my progress as a player, I think I needed that tonight." Howard seemed to use the venom being spewed at him as fuel for a 39-point outburst that included 16 rebounds and three blocked shots. He also made his former mates pay for their strategy of putting him on the line as much as possible. Despite shooting a putrid 49 percent from the free throw line this year, he was able to sink 16-of-20 in the second half Tuesday night. He finished the game with a startling 39 free throw attempts, more than double the entire Magic squad. He banged home 25 of the 39 foul shots.
The Lakers needed Howard to lift them onto his broad shoulders. Kobe Bryant struggled through a 4-of-14 night from the field and only scored 11 points. He did, however, contribute eight assists and seven rebounds. Metta World Peace was Los Angeles' second leading scorer with 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting.
Jameer Nelson led the Magic with 21 points on 9-of-19 shooting while handing out seven assists. He was a woeful 1-of-9 from 3-point range. Howard recently raised eyebrows when he said he took a team full of players nobody wanted to the NBA Finals. Nelson was a prominent teammate of Howard's and shrugged off the controversy via a pregame hug. "Everybody's always going to say certain things in order to start certain situations," Howard said. "But Jameer's my brother. We came in together, and I have no bad feelings toward him."
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