Lakers expect Dwight Howard to rebound

Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard fielded a dozen similarly themed questions from reporters a day after his low-wattage start in the NBA Finals.

To paraphrase practically all of them: Where's the power, Howard? Why so slight, Dwight?

If Howard is the muscle of the Magic, there wasn't a lot of flexing in Game 1 on Thursday.

The Lakers often employed a patient, slow-moving double team in which they waited for Howard to begin his post move with a dribble before sending a player to help.

Sometimes it was Lamar Odom. Sometimes Trevor Ariza. Even Derek Fisher dropped down to help defend Howard once or twice.

In basketball parlance, it's called double-teaming "on the bounce." In the box score, Howard's stats were doubled over.

He made only one of six shots and failed to make another basket after a short hook shot 1:58 into the game. He finished with 12 points, well below his 21.7 playoff average coming into the game. In fact, he had 40 points in his last game before Thursday, the one that eliminated Cleveland and sent Orlando to the Finals.

The Lakers weren't celebrating at practice Friday, even after their 100-75 victory. Why would they after only one game in a best-of-seven series? But the Lakers noticed that Howard looked a little off-kilter.

"He definitely did," said center Andrew Bynum, who did a credible job of staying with Howard despite persistent foul trouble. "It's going to take everybody willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good of the team, coming over and not worrying so much about their man."

Said Ariza: "He did seem a little off-balance, but that's what we've got to do. We've got to keep them guessing. We don't want him to get into a rhythm. We don't want him to get it going."

Howard didn't dunk once. He missed two layup attempts and three short jump shots. He also did a poor job of passing the ball back out to Orlando's perimeter shooters, which he said he would change for Game 2 on Sunday.

The search for a cause to explain his off night even included a question about a blue-and-silver sleeve he wore on his left arm in Game 1.

"Man, I just wear the sleeve because I like how it looks," Howard said before shaking his head. "I started wearing it in practice, it felt good one day, and I thought, 'Man, I should wear this in the game.' It might make my shot look better."

It didn't help, not that Howard seemed negatively affected.