When Dwight Howard teamed up with Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2012, many people thought the Lakers would be able to march through the Western Conference on their way to an NBA Finals match-up with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat. Despite the fact that L.A. made the playoffs last season, those championship dreams never materialized as the Lakers were bounced by the San Antonio Spurs in the opening round of the 2012-2013 NBA Playoffs, with Howard departing via free agency shortly after.
Howard is now a member of the Houston Rockets and as they prepare to host the Lakers for the first time since signing the big man in July, Houston hopes they're able to establish themselves as true contenders by winning their fifth game in six tries this season. Excited about the start to his career as a member of the Rockets, Howard - who is averaging over 17 points and 14 rebounds per game this season - doesn't like the idea of referring to the upcoming clash as a reunion game since it was his decision to leave the Lakers at the end of their season.
"It's not a reunion game," Howard told USA TODAY recently. "What's the reunion? I think people are making a big deal out of the whole situation. Yeah, I left the Lakers. Ok, I did what I had to do. This is my decision, and for me it's another game. Half the guys on the team weren't on the team last year anyway, so it's really not like a reunion."
Struggling mightily on the road during the early part of the season, Lakers head coach Mike D'Antoni says his team needs to buckle down and learn how to play together after an embarrassing 123-104 loss to the Dallas Mavericks in their last outing.
"You can't get blown out and then think now we need to learn to win," D'Antoni said to reporters. "No, we need to learn how to play. We're not playing right now."
The task of rebounding on the road will not be easy, especially when you consider that Houston is averaging over 109 points per game and because the Lakers have dropped their last four contests against the Rockets at the Toyota Center.
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Houston Rockets: DATE, TIME & TV INFO
DATE: Thursday, November 7
TIME: 9:30pm, ET
TV COVERAGE: TNT
LIVE STREAM: CLICK HERE
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