The world was watching as Dwight Howard faced the Los Angeles Lakers for the first time since leaving the team in favor of the Houston Rockets. The center made headlines much of the offseason with his free agency tour before ultimately deciding to join up with James Harden in Texas. The matchup with the Lakers was certainly exciting and if there is a team that knows the weaknesses of Howard, it is Los Angeles and it showed Thursday night.
At one point in the first half, Harden entered his takeover mode, putting up 35 points as the clock ticked down in the second quarter. Los Angeles opted to try and get the ball out of the star's hands by using the excessive fouling technique. Howard's biggest struggle is free throws and the Lakers wanted to take advantage of it. He started by putting down 4-of-6 before missing his next five of six attempts from the line. Houston lost on a last minute three and Harden is furious over the team's tactics.
"I was in a rhythm and they started fouling Dwight," Harden said, via Yahoo! Sports. "It kind of slows us down. It slows our pace down and what we like to do. Good coaching."
The hack-a-Dwight technique worked as Steve Blake finished off the Rockets with a buzzer-beating three. Harden failed to get a single point was the fouling spree on Howard began which ultimately led to a lack of rhythm for Houston. The center finished going 5-of-16 in free throws. As a result, Howard vows to head back into the gym and continue working on his shots from the line.
"My free throws were terrible," Howard said. "I just got to keep working. It was terrible tonight. I just got to go back in the gym and work on them some more and continue to work on it. It will fall."
This is something the Rockets will likely have to face the entire season. Want to beat Houston? Send Dwight to the line. The center is known as one of the worst free throw shooters in the league and Mike D'Antoni made a defensive plan around that.
"The tide turned and Harden is tough to guard 1-on-1," D'Antoni said. "I'd rather have Dwight finishing it up than Harden."
So the Lakers get round one of the Howard rematches. When the Rockets head to the staple center, Howard's task of beating his former team will get harder as the fans will certainly let him know how they are feeling. Better work on those free throws.
