ORLANDO, Fla. _ Just as halftime was about to expire, Dwight Howard took a three-pointer and sank it. Then he shuffled to his right and sank another from the top of the arc.
During the regular season, the Lakers joked about Howard being a three-point specialist given that his shooting percentage was so high. After all, at one point in the season, Howard had made all of the threes he'd taken (1 out of 1).
Howard didn't get much playing time in Thursday night's game against the Houston Rockets. The Lakers decided to use smaller lineups against a Rockets team that likes to do the same. They even made starting center JaVale McGee inactive.
At center they played Anthony Davis, who typically prefers to play power forward. They started Kyle Kuzma at power forward, Danny Green at small forward, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope at shooting guard and Quinn Cook at point guard.
The Lakers fell to the Rockets, 113-97. Rockets star James Harden led all scorers with 39 points, playing 35 minutes. Kuzma led the Lakers with 21 points, making eight of his 16 shots, with five rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Davis played 30 minutes and scored 17 points with 12 rebounds and seven turnovers.
