Below is a running diary of L.A.’s Tuesday evening road contest against Orlando, Dwight Howard’s return to the place he played his first eight NBA seasons, with some comments drawn from our @LakersReporter Twitter account, and a few more details in case you missed any of the action:
Starters
Lakers: Nash, Bryant, World Peace, Clark and Howard
Magic: J. Nelson, A. Afflao, T. Harris, M. Harkless, N. Vucevic
FIRST QUARTER
6:45 With all eyes, and boos, on him each time he touched the ball, Howard delivered early, throwing down a huge dunk as part of his 3 of 4 field goals plus a huge block on the other end, the Lakers taking an early 11-8 lead in the process. In the larger context, the Lakers were trying to go a half game up on Utah for the No. 8 seed, so this game was important as any other.
0:00 It was not a good close to the first period for the visitors, L.A. allowing a 6-2 run (and 11-4) in the final two minutes that put the Magic up 23-22. After hitting a three to start the game, Bryant missed six straight shots in the next 11 minutes, the Lakers hitting 10 of 22 shots (45.5 percent). The Magic couldn’t hit anything either, but with surely their most energetic crowd of the season, made some extra effort plays to get six free throws, making five. L.A. took only two, both Howard misses.
SECOND QUARTER
9:00 With Howard back on the floor, it was all Lakers to start the second, an 11-1 run allowing a 33-24 lead as Nash and Bryant got some rest. Howard was up to 10 points, eight boards and two blocks, looking strong on both ends as he had in the previous two games in particular. The defense had been strong, anchored by Howard, holding the Magic to just three points in the first six minutes.
2:22 Howard continued to be the story, drawing foul after foul on Orlando towards 15 free throw attempts, and while he made only six, he was also converting field goals (5 of the 7 he got off clean), capped by a two-handed dunk from Nash that pushed his point total to 16, and gave L.A. a 47-38 lead. They’d outscored Orlando 25-15 to that point of the second.
0:00 However, just like in the first quarter, L.A. fell apart in the final moments, allowing an 8-1 Magic run that trimmed the lead to just four at 50-46 going into the locker room. Jameer Nelson found his shot, totaling all eight of his points in the final several minutes of the period, even as Howard was up to 19 points with 10 boards.
THIRD QUARTER
7:15 The Magic carried that late second quarter energy into the third, scoring consecutive buckets in transition to suddenly take a 57-56 lead. Mike D’Antoni was furious with a call on the play leading to that run, as World Peace tipped home a miss but had the bucket waived off for a foul on the ground, which made little sense since it happened simultaneously. Nonetheless, the crowd was very much back into it, trying to will the Magic into a victory of revenge against Howard and his new team.
5:00 As such, it was good timing for the Lakers to get consecutive made threes from Earl Clark, another Howard free throw (his 12th in 23 attempts) and 1 of 2 Bryant free throws to cap a 9-2 run, putting the Lakers up 66-59. Bryant had been able to conserve his energy for much of the evening, taking only nine shots with six assists while allowing Howard to control the flow.
0:00 Back-to-back threes from Kobe pushed the lead to as many as 12, before a 5-0 Magic run out of a time out kept things interesting. Howard proceeded to hit 3 of 4 free throws when intentionally fouled by Jacque Vaughn, making him 8 of 10 in such intentional situations and 7 of 15 when fouled in the run of play. Clearly, he likes being intentionally fouled? With 29 points and 13 boards, the numbers were impressive for 32 minutes through three periods.
FOURTH QUARTER
10:00 Despite Howard, Bryant and Nash all resting to start the fourth (normal for the latter two), L.A. reeled off an 8-0 run to take firm control back, with Steve Blake orchestrating and Antawn Jamison twice finishing pretty slip screens to the hoop. Jamison’s among the league’s best at slipping those screens and cutting to the hoop, and showed why. He kept it up, too, scoring on consecutive possessions out of a Magic time out to reach 10 points with his eight boards. Blake had eight assists.
3:38 Hack-a-Howard continued, to the extent that he’d taken 35 foul shots on the evening, a Lakers franchise record (he passed Shaq, who set it in 1999). He hit both, and was thus 16 of 20 when Vaughn intentionally fouled him, helping the Lakers to a 99-86 lead. And they weren’t the last he’d take, going right back to the line to match his all-time NBA record for most attempts at 39. He made 25 of them, including 23 of his final 30, which had D’Antoni smiling on the sideline (well … not that he was happy with how it junked up the game for the fans, which he’d state afterwards).
0:00 The final score: 106-97 (Orlando scored seven straight in garbage time). With the road win, L.A. improved to 9-2 out of the All-Star break, enough to go up a half game on Utah (33-31) with win No. 34. Up next is the back end of a B2B at Atlanta tomorrow night. We’ll see you there.
Below is a running diary of L.A.’s Sunday afternoon contest against Chicago with some comments drawn from our 
SECOND QUARTER
7:30 The Lakers went through another drought on offense with Nash and Bryant on the bench, allowing a 6-0 Bulls run to cut a 14-point lead to eight at 77-69. Howard was cleaning everything on the glass, reaching 20 boards, but couldn’t tip in that 20th at the rim. As such, Nash returned at the 7-minute mark, Bryant having re-entered moments earlier.
Below is a running diary of L.A.’s Friday night contest against Toronto, the Lakers trying to move to over .500 for just the second time this season, with some comments drawn from our 
3:15 The Lakers started the game well from an energy standpoint, but the Raptors were weirdly hitting everything they threw up, enough to take a 28-21 lead when Kyle Lowry got an and-1 to fall in traffic (missed the free throw). It was literally the 10th straight field goal made by the visitors, with the Lakers missing a series of shots around the rim (8 of 18 overall, 44.4 percent).
2:10 The seventh Bryant assist turned into the seventh Howard field goal, and cut the lead to seven when it had ballooned to as many as 15. Howard was doing damage on both ends, reaching 16 points with four boards, three blocks and three steals, while Bryant’s two free throws in the final minute got him into double digits in points as well at 10. Bryant added another foul shot in the final seconds, and Metta World Peace tipped home his missed second one to cut the lead to six at the half. That wasn’t too bad considering how poorly L.A. started the game; the key was on D, as Toronto shot only 40.9 percent in the second quarter after that white hot first period.
4:18 Bryant was going to the foul line on repeat, hitting 12 of 14 in the game and 6 of 6 in the fourth, and Nash drained a triple from the top of the key off Kobe’s 12th assist, but Toronto was still scoring on the other end, getting consecutive hoops at the rim from Johnson to take a 105-99 lead with 2:38 to play. 
Below is a running diary of L.A.’s Wednesday evening contest at New Orleans, with some comments drawn from our 
6:24 L.A. started the game with better energy than they were able to muster at Oklahoma City the night before despite arriving at 3 a.m., pushing to an early 12-8 lead when Kobe Bryant found Dwight Howard for a dunk after dumping it off to the big man in the paint. It was Howard’s second field goal, and meanwhile, both Eric Gordon and Anthony Davis had to sit with two fouls for the home team.
0:00 The lead was 19 at the half, at 67-48, since a late Bryant burst trimmed what had grown to as many as a 25-point margin. New Orleans hit 57 percent of its first half shots, and 12 of 14 free throws, compared to 39 percent and 14 of 18 foul shots from the visitors. Howard played only those two minutes in the second quarter, and the Hornets took advantage in scoring a ridiculous 39 points. 
4:00 Ouch. Meeks had a reverse layup go in and out, one that would have cut it to five, but Kobe threw home a dunk off a ridiculous move after another defensive stop to suddenly make it a 102-97 game with 3:38 to play. No matter for Meeks … he more than atoned while draining his fifth three-pointer to bring the Lakers within two. Again, this is a team who’d been down 25, and 18 heading into the fourth quarter. It was Bryant making the pass, his 12th assist of the evening. And by the way, the Hornets hadn’t scored since the 6:47 mark…
Below is a running diary of L.A.’s Tuesday night contest at Oklahoma City, with some comments drawn from our 
8:40 L.A. probably thought it couldn’t have started much worse than being down 9-2, having yet to make a shot from the field in six attempts plus two turnovers, when Kobe Bryant had to go to the locker room after doubling over in pain grabbing at his shooting arm/elbow. Trainer Gary Vitti went with him, and as we all know, Bryant doesn’t just leave the court for nothing. Moments later, we learned that it was an ulnar nerve contusion, which is essentially an injury to the funny bone. His return was officially “questionable.”
3:37 Ulnar nerve be damned, Bryant rose to drain back-to-back three-pointers from the right wing, then hit 2 of 3 free throws while drawing Ibaka’s third foul, forcing him to join Perkins and Collison with three of their own on the OKC bench. However, with Hasheem Thabeet in, the Lakers failed to put the league’s tallest and perhaps least mobile player in screen/roll as Kobe repeatedly took shots (though he had made 5 of 9) from the right wing … at least until he tired, and Nash got a jumper, then free throws when they finally ran the pick and roll. OKC, however, was scoring too, and kept its lead around 10.
0:00 Overall, it was a much better third quarter for the Lakers, who outscored the Thunder 34-26 to cut the 16-point halftime lead in half. Nash was perfect from the field, making all five of his shots plus two free throws for 13 of his 17 points, while Bryant added 10 more to reach 28. Westbrook did most of OKC’s damage, hitting for 16 of his game-high 34 points, in a 97-89 lead heading into the fourth. 
Below is a running diary of L.A.’s Sunday evening contest against Atlanta, the 29-30 Lakers trying to get to .500, with some comments drawn from our 
4:37 A relative constant of late: Antawn Jamison checking in and immediately draining a three-pointer, which he did here to make it a 23-12 early lead for the home team. Atlanta had started a big line up trying to better deal with Dwight Howard, but was out of sync on offense, the Lakers taking early advantage with six guys scoring. 
0:00 L.A. closed the first half as well as they started the game, turning that deficit into a 7-point lead at the half, 52-45, thanks to a combination of Nash assists (seven) and Kobe points (14) plus Howard rebounds (11) and paint defense, all three doing what they’re best at. Jamison was big off the bench as well, totaling 10 points with his six boards in relief duty. 
10:00 That 16-point lead? Yeah, it was all gone, Harris staying hot and Kyle Korver hitting as well to tie the game at 80. Steve Blake answered with a jumper (8 points, 4 assists) and Bryant 1 of 2 free throws after an early fourth quarter return, however, to keep L.A. on top for the time being…
Below is a running diary of L.A.’s Thursday evening home contest against Minnesota, with some comments drawn from our 
12:00 The longest current winning streak for one team over another in the NBA belongs to the Lakers, who have won 20 straight over the Wolves, but that meant little to Mike D’Antoni. Clearly, his team has little room for error, and needs to capitalize on the rare occasion from last night in which all three Western teams ahead of L.A. in the standings (Houston, Utah and Golden State) all lost. 
0:00 The lead grew back to double figures at the break, behind a late scoring burst from Kobe, up to 22 points on 9 of 15 field goals, plus three assists and four boards. Blake continued his terrific play off the bench and was rewarded with extra minutes, amassing four assists that should have been five when Howard threw down an alley-oop but touched the ball when it was over the cylinder.
7:13 Blake continued his terrific night, climbing up to six assists on an alley-oop to Howard, to compliment his season-highs in points (13) and boards (seven) with the Lakers up 104-83 thanks to a 13-8 to the fourth quarter. Bryant and Nash would likely be able to ice their knees very soon…
Below is a running diary of L.A.’s Monday night contest at Denver, with some comments drawn from our 
5:33 The game was pretty evenly matched in the opening minutes, with Denver leading 17-16 after Dwight Howard hit his first two free throws, as every Lakers starter had at least two points. In off the bench came Antawn Jamison and Jodie Meeks, the former getting an immediate steal and the latter a corner three to give the Lakers the lead, continuing what’s been excellent bench play of late.
1:10 Broken record alert: Nash turned it over for the fifth time, many trying to get the ball to Howard in screen/roll action, and Denver converted a layup on the other end. Bryant found his way on offense to get the Lakers within eight nonetheless, but the Nuggets kept scoring, reaching 67 points to take a 13-point lead into halftime. To be down by 13 points while shooting 60 percent from the field seems ridiculous, but the 12 turnovers and complete lack of paint protection said a lot about it.
9:39 L.A.’s second unit was getting stops, and thus the visitors had a chance to cut the lead to as few as seven, but Howard missed two more free throws (1 for 10 after making his first two) and was blocked at the rim. Jamison was also blocked at the rim, and both swats led to fast break buckets on the other end, the continued story of the game. So instead of 98-91, it was 102-89.
Below is a running diary of L.A.’s Sunday afternoon contest at Dallas, with some comments drawn from our 
1:00 Antawn Jamison has been terrific on offense for the Lakers in the past few weeks, and was already up to nine points in seven first quarter minutes after hitting his second three-pointer. That one pulled the Lakers to within one after they’d failed to clear a defensive board with four guys back, resulting in an open triple for Dirk Nowitzki, his second make of the period. The Mavs added another bucket in the final minute to take a 30-27 lead.
0:00 Kobe missed his final three shots of the period, all in isolation, as the Mavs got consecutive buckets from sub Brandan Wright to pull even at 54 heading into halftime. L.A. led by as many as six on a few occasions, but had to last with Howard playing only 11 minutes due to foul trouble. Considering that fact, a tie at the break wasn’t too shabby for the road team, certainly in need of a victory to pick up a game on Houston and Utah, both of whom lost on Saturday night.
FOURTH QUARTER
Below is a running diary of L.A.’s Friday evening home contest against Portland, with some comments drawn from our 
7:35 It was the Blazers with the quick start, hitting 3 of 4 shots to open a 7-2 lead, but the Lakers settled in from there, countering with seven makes in their first 10 attempts, including back-to-back triples from Kobe Bryant and Earl Clark that allowed a 16-12 lead. It was just the second three-pointer for Kobe in the last 15 games, an odd stat for sure, though one reason he’s hit so many fewer is he’s taking only 2.2 per game in February, compared to 5.5 in January and 6.9 in December. 
0:57.5 The building got quiet as Howard appeared to tweak the torn labrum in his right shoulder, with Blazers reserve Victor Claver hacking at him in the same motion that’s caused the previous problems for Howard. He last tweaked it at Phoenix in late January and subsequently missed three games, but he got up this time and stayed in the game, much to LAL’s relief. Portland, however, ended the half on a 9-2 run to take a 54-53 lead into halftime, L.A. hitting only 36.4 percent of its shots in the second quarter and relaxing a bit on defense.
7:19 The offense was really clicking for the Lakers group of Blake-Meeks-MWP-Clark-Howard, with Meeks totaling six points, Howard converting a jump hook and MWP a driving layup to 95-92 lead early in the fourth, as Bryant and Nash got some extra rest. However, a quick 5-0 Blazers run capped by unheralded Will Barton’s and-1 gave Portland a 97-95 lead with 6:15 to play. 
NBA.COM is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network.
