Howard Shows Lakers Why He is Superman

The Lakers suffered a frustrating 89-75 loss to Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic Sunday afternoon, falling to 4-1 on the current seven-game road trip.

Dwight Howard was on fire, even though most of his shots were dunks or point blank attempts, and his supporting cast got it done with timely threes. The Magic held the Lakers offense to just 34 points in the second twenty-four minutes, getting a much needed win.

The Lakers bigs were aggressive in the first half, but didn't contribute as much in the next two quarters. Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol missed a lot of easy baskets, while Dwight Howard converted his opportunities. Kobe and the rest of the backcourt didn't shoot well and as always, Artest didn't score in double figures. Lamar had 15 but missed half of his free throws. Kobe and Drew ended up with 17 points apiece, but Gasol had only eleven.

The Lakers offense was not in rhythm, whereas the Magic were clicking. Orlando fed Howard in the post and worked the inside-out game hitting seven three-pointers. This Finals rematch from two years ago wasn't a good experience for LA, while the Magic showed up prepared and hungry for a win.

Player of the Game: Dwight Howard 31 pts 13 rebs 3 ast 3 blk 13-16 FGM-A

Superman was a dominant force in the paint and didn't miss a shot in the second half. He had too many dunks to count and was just unstoppable down low. Gasol was no match for Howard, especially on the offensive glass. Howard showed off his expanded game, hitting a jumpshot off the glass and making a solid percentage of his free throws. Let's trade for him next year Lakers!

Highlight of the Game: Dwight Howard's dunks were nice, even though the alley-oop at the end of the third quarter shouldn't have counted because Gilbert Arenas's huge foot was out of bounds before he passed the ball, but you have to give him credit. Out of the many, here's one.

Notes: The Heat lost to the Celtics...again. Derrick Caracter played but missed both his free throws and his only shot. The Lakers were their throwback home jerseys again.

Next Game: Mon @ Charlotte Bobcats 23-31 9th Eastern Conference (Last Game: W @ Atlanta Hawks) Captain Jack hit the game-winner at the buzzer (video below). Hopefully, that won't happen this time, or if it does, the Black Mamba is the one who's taking that shot.