Los Angeles Lakers' fans had the last laugh on Dwight Howard on Sunday night at Staples Center.
Howard started the game making six of his first eight shots and scoring 13 points in the opening quarter to give the visiting Atlanta Hawks an 11-point lead after 12 minutes. Atlanta had led by as many as 13 points in the opening period thanks to Howard, but Howard would only score six points in the final three quarters.
Once again, the Lakers' second unit came up big as it has been prone to doing this season.
"The energy that the second unit brought on the defensive end in that second quarter changed the outcome of that game," Lakers coach Luke Walton said after the game.
Walton added, "The second quarter stretch is the best we've been defensively, in my opinion, all year long."
Led by Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson offensively, LA erased the Hawks' double-digit lead and tasted the first Lakers' lead since the team led 2-0 in the opening seconds.
To cap off an eventful second quarter, starting shooting guard Nick Young returned to finish out the half and caught fire. Young hit all four of his three-point shots to enter the locker room as the leading scorer in the game with 15 points. LA managed to hold Howard to zero points in the second quarter and entered the break leading 56-48.
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In the third period, the Lakers and Hawks played nearly an even 12 minutes, with the Hawks cutting into the Lakers' lead by a single point. Former Laker Kent Bazemore led the Hawks' assault with 10 points in the quarter to move up to a game high 18 points for the game. He finished with a team-high 21 points.
In the final quarter, the Lakers managed to keep hold of their lead and entered the final stretch leading by 13 points, which was the team's largest lead of the game to that point. The Lakers would extend that difference to 16 points with 5:58 remaining in the game. With five minutes remaining, the Lakers led by 18 points.
#ChickHearn night at Staples Center. Here's a look at the keychain the team gave away... pic.twitter.com/1RZTNoTl0b — Shahan Ahmed (@shahanLA) November 28, 2016
On the 100th anniversary of legendary broadcaster Chick Hearn's birth, a night the team celebrated with videos on the big screen, a scholarship presentation at halftime and a key chain giveaway for fans in attendance, the Lakers poetically put the game in the refrigerator: the lights were out, the butter was getting hard, the eggs were getting cool, and the jello was giggling.
Staying true to form, the home fans continued to jeer and harass Howard every time he touched the ball for the remainder of the game, until a chorus of boos showered the most hated former Laker on his way to the bench.
Chants of "We Want Tacos" began to sound out at Staples Center about the time the game went into the refrigerator. Eventually, the Lakers won by a final count of 109-94, and yes, everyone got tacos. The Lakers improved to 9-9 and next hit the road for a daunting stretch of four games in five nights starting with a game in New Orleans on Tuesday night.
Notes: Nance finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds to record a double-double. Lou Williams led the Lakers in scoring with 21 points. In his first start of the season, Thomas Robinson scored nine points and pulled down eight rebounds. The Lakers were without the injured duo of D'Angelo Russell and Julius Randle.
