It seems like almost every game this season, Dwight Howard has been in foul trouble early. In last night’s 102-91 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, Howard picked up his fourth foul with over eight minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter, forcing him to sit. Dwight did not return for the remainder of the period, and the Spurs took over the game. Tony Parker hit fire, scoring 15 points in the third quarter alone.
LakersNation.com asked Dwight how his foul trouble is affecting his team.
“They need me on the floor but I just can’t stop being aggressive, I got to post up hard.”
At practice today, Dwight pointed out that his fouls were on the offensive end and directed attention towards the anti-flopping rules.
“I thought the flopping rule was going to be put in this year, but I guess that’s for next season.”
To be fair, Dwight’s comments came with a smile, like most do, but not all of Howard’s fouls were on the offensive end. Two of Dwight’s five fouls were, in fact, offensive, but the other three were a bit careless.
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Either way, Howard says he doesn’t plan to change his style of play. Instead, it sounds like he’ll be relying on the officials to make some adjustments.
“It’s a battle, it’s the playoffs and you’ve gotta fight for every possession. From the beginning of the game to the end, every game we’ve got to show the refs and the other team how we’re going to play. Usually the refs make adjustments, but we can’t change. I can’t change my style of play because that’s going to benefit the Spurs.”
If the officials don’t make the adjustments that Dwight is hoping for and Howard refuses to make adjustments of his own, the Lakers will be in trouble on Friday night. With Steve Blake out and Steve Nash and Darius Morris doubtful, the Lakers are going to need every possible minute from him that they can get.
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