Dwight Howard and the Los Angeles Lakers lived up to the challenge of containing Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggetsin the paint during Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals of the NBA playoffs. However, repeating that effort isnโt going to be easy at all.
The veteran turned back the clock and was all over the court in just 16 minutes of action. He made some impressive defensive plays and dominated in the paint with his length, strength, athleticism, and savviness.
His presence made Jokic struggleto stay in the game for long stretches. Howard drew a lot of contact and fouls from him and the Serbian big man was clearly frustrated. Now, Howard issued him a bit of a warning ahead of Game 2:
Dwight Howard Warns Nikola Jokic Ahead Of Game 2
โWell, heโs an awesome player and I loved watching his growth from when he came into the league until now,โ Howard started. โFor me, as soon as I step on the court, I want to let him know that Iโm there. Since weโre staying in the same hotel, I might meet him outside his room and let him know that for the rest of the series Iโm gonna be right there, locked on to you. Itโs not nothing bad, itโs just competitive spirit inside me. I appreciate his hard work and dedication to the game, and this is a great opportunity for myself, so Iโm going to take advantage of any moment I have on the floor, and give my teammates and Laker Nation 110 percent,โ Dwight concluded.
Dwight Howard has been on a mission since the start of the season. He was out of a job until DeMarcus Cousins fell down with a season-ending injury and vowed to prove that he was fully committed and focused on redeeming himself after falling off a cliff the past couple of years.
Superman is well aware of the fact that the door is closing for him and that this may be his last shot at winning an NBA championship and heโs not going to let anything or anyone get in his way this time.
