This was not just another game for Dwight, though, and his performance proved it. The Lakers defeated the Magic 106-97. In his return to Orlando Dwight scored a season-high 39 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and added three blocks: Howard tied his own free-throw mark of 39 (with Orlando) in the process, as Jacque Vaughn’s “Hack-a-Dwight” strategy was in full-effect.
“I wasn’t nervous tonight. I was looking forward to playing here,” Howard said after the game. “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 didn’t play nervous, and he sure didn’t act nervous. He got into a verbal confrontation with the Magic bench at one point, surely not just going about his business.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMO0OMJ7-3s]
While Dwight was center-stage on Tuesday, the other Lakers’ big is quietly waiting in the wings, anxiously awaiting his own return. Pau Gasol was seen taking jumpers on the floor after the Lakers shootaround, and coach Mike D’Antoni said he could return soon. More from Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “Gasol hasn’t played since Feb. 5 at Brooklyn, after which he was diagnosed with a torn plantar fascia in his right foot. Tuesday marked his first extensive basketball activity since the injury, and if he suffers no setbacks Wednesday, he could increase his workouts by Thursday. The Lakers have won eight of 10 to climb above .500 for the first time since November and into the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference. Getting Gasol back as soon as next week would be as much of a challenge as it is a blessing. Before he went down, the Lakers were struggling to find a way to use him in D’Antoni’s offense, and he’d been relegated to a bench role that he said he would not accept beyond this season.”
And alas, Carmelo Anthony will make his first trip to Denver Wednesday night as the Knicks take on Anthony’s former team at the Pepsi Center: “The only familiar face he’ll see is that of point guard Ty Lawson. None of the other Nuggets were here when he was wearing powder blue and gold. “This game is going to be huge,” Lawson said. “It might be the most exciting game of the year because Carmelo is going to come in. It is going to be a fun game. I can’t wait.”
The trade seems to be turning out to be a win-win for both teams. The Denver Nuggets (43-22) have been surging in the West after a slow start to the season (possibly due to a brutal road schedule) and are proving true George Karl’s proclamation that an NBA team doesn’t need a superstar to be great. Meanwhile, Anthony’s Knicks are 2-1 against the Miami Heat this season and currently hold the second best record in the Eastern Conference (38-23). Anthony is also second in the NBA in scoring.
More can be read in a great article by Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post: “Will Denver fans boo a player who turned his back on their city to go to a bigger one? Or, will they cheer him as a thank-you for resuscitating the franchise? Or, have they simply moved on — and look at Wednesday’s game not as “The Melo Game,” but another needed home victory for a surging Denver team looking to get home-court in the first round of the playoffs. Anthony was asked Tuesday at Pepsi Center what he would tell fans who boo him tonight. “I’d probably just smile at him. There’s really nothing I can really say at this point,” he said. “I don’t think the fans really know why they’re booing; in the media it was portrayed that I wanted to leave. There was a lot of things behind the scenes.”
Ben Baroff is a basketball journalist who blogs for SheridanHoops.com.