Howard took a measly six shots in a 100-75 rout against the Lakers on Thursday. That came after a 40-point effort against the Cleveland Cavaliers to reach the finals.
“We see what we have to do as a team to win. It’s team basketball first,” Howard told reporters on Friday.
“I’m not really concerned about the offensive end. That stuff will come. But on the defensive end …. we weren’t as aggressive as we normally are, all of us. And we have to rebound.”
Howard conceded the Lakers had shut him down successfully, but said the series was far from over.
“They made it tough for me to really try to get into my moves, our baseline. But it’s only one game.”
Coach Stan Van Gundy said he was looking for Howard “to bring a higher energy and intensity level” to Game Two today at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
“The thing that people can never match with Dwight when he’s really going after it is his combination of athleticism and strength,” he said. “I don’t think there’s ever been a time where I’ve thought somebody had him overmatched in those areas.
“If you look at (Game One), he did not play with great energy, he did not run the court.”
The Magic will have to shoot better to have any chance of winning their first NBA championship. The team hit less than 30 percent of their shots, including eight of 23 from three-point range.
The Lakers, led by Kobe Bryant’s 40 points, hit 46 percent of their shots and had the game won by the start of the final quarter.
Howard said the Magic had to focus on the things they could control today.
“After watching the film we were more focused on how bad we played defense. We just didn’t have any energy, effort,” he added.
“We can’t control Kobe having 40 points, but what we can control is boxing out, getting loose balls, stuff like that, and we didn’t do it.”
