Metta World Peace's wild pass ends up Dwight Howard's dunk (VIDEO)

Metta World Peace never will be accused of playing it safe. But the Los Angeles Lakers forward has moments of beauty.

World Peace was credited with four assists in the Lakers' 108-79 win Sunday against the Detroit Pistons, but none of his passes was more inspired than one that only gets credit in the "hockey assist" column.

The second-quarter play starts on a comically bad inbound pass from Pistons forward Kyle Singler, which World Peace grabs without contest. He then takes a couple dribbles to survey the court and decides the smart move is to heave the ball down court directly over two Pistons defenders to backup point guard Darius Morris.

Morris catches and notices Dwight Howard wide open near the rim.

You won't like him when he's wide open near the rim. The video says it all:

A few things to note:

• Howard, who finished with 28 points on 12-for-14 shooting, gets crazy high to catch Morris' lob.

• This is because Morris' lob isn't great, though there's a degree of difficulty because of his quick release. Morris, bumped up from third string because of Steve Nash's injury, isn't a polished NBA point guard. He had six points and two assists in the win, though, so that's progress for the 21-year-old with great potential.

• World Peace hadn't been very good this season, shooting 34.8% and averaging 7.0 points a game in the Lakers' first three games, all losses. But he dropped 18 on 7-for-11 shooting Sunday, adding five rebounds and those four assists.

You can't beat the Lakers when World Peace is dropping 18 efficient points. Or when passes like that are landing.