Dwight Howard, Lakers make first win look easy vs. Pistons

• Los Angeles Lakers beat Detroit Pistons 108-79 Sunday night for first win
• Lakers center Dwight Howard had 28 points on 12-for-14 shooting
• Steve Nash missed game for Lakers and is out at least a week

LOS ANGELES — Finally, the bruised, battered but not broken Los Angeles Lakers found someone they could beat.

They might be the worst pro basketball team in Los Angeles — so far, anyway — but they showed Sunday night before a very relieved, celebratory Staples Center crowd that they're not going to be the worst team in the NBA.

Big surprise.

But more than their first victory of the season, the Lakers' 108-79 trouncing of the winless Detroit Pistons Sunday night unveiled in the clearest manner yet how the new-look Lakers envision taking on the NBA this season.

The inside game was dominant, with Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol combining for 30 points in the first half, when the Lakers outscored the Pistons 62-34. Eight minutes into the third quarter, that number was 40, and the score was 82-46. At the end of the game, Howard and Gasol combined to shoot 18-for-30 for 42 points, with Howard 12-for-14 for 28 points.

While Lakers coach Mike Brown talked about his new system working, and Kobe Bryant and fill-in point guard Steve Blake talked about gaining confidence and being more comfortable in the offense, Howard said the big difference Sunday night came down to one word.

Energy.

"We've got a lot of old guys on the team, and I haven't played in a while," said Howard, who missed most of the preseason still recovering from back surgery. "It takes some times to get it going. That's not an excuse, but that's what's going on. Our energy just has not been what it should have been."

Even without injured playmaker supreme Steve Nash, who has built a Hall of Fame career on getting the ball to big guys, the Lakers scored inside at will. Filling Nash's playmaker role was none other than super-scorer Bryant, who dished early and often, amassing eight assists in the first half alone.

Bryant, who had shot well scored big in the first three games, had just four assists in those games. But he started the game in a facilitating mode and found lots of teammates in good spots – primarily, he found Howard within dunk/layup range.

"We were patient, we moved the ball and we got easy shots," Howard said. "And we started playing inside-out. That's always going to be the key for us – getting Pau and myself going."

As if to remind everyone that no shot is too impossible for him to take — and make — Bryant, near the end of the second quarter, flashed into the lane, took a pass, floated to his left, turned his back to the basket and nonchalantly spun in a backhand bank shot of maybe six feet. After scoring 22, 30 and 40 in the first three games, Bryant only shot 10 times Sunday and finished with 15 points.

Bryant, who after the 0-3 start had told all the doomsayers to chill out, wasn't exactly doing cartwheels in the locker room.

"I think it's more of a relief for Mike (Brown) than it is for anybody else," Bryant said. "We're good. It feels good. We did what we were supposed to do."

So, after a stunning home-opener loss to Dallas and then decisive losses to Portland and the Clippers, not only was there a win in Lakerland, there was, finally, some fun.

Big guys dunking.

Bryant dishing – and throwing in a trick shot.

And actual defense, too.

It all added up to the Lakers avoiding going 0-4 for the first time since 1957-58, when they were based in Minneapolis.

It put a big smile on the face of Brown, who has been heavily criticized for the team's sluggish start.

"Everybody got a little taste of what it can be like," Brown said of the offense. "The execution. The spacing. The counters. And we're just scratching the surface. I'm really excited."

Bryant, who dropped to 43.0% shooting from the field last season, his worst mark since his second year in the league, has now shot 50% or better in each of the first four games.

"That's by design, to allow Kobe not to have to work so hard for his points," Brown said.

While the primary goal Sunday was just to get a victory, the long-range goal of a smooth-running offense where all the future Hall of Famers coexist in harmony could take a while because of the non-displaced fracture in point guard Nash's left fibula.

Nash's return date is unknown. The Lakers say Nash will be out at least a week and then re-evaluated.

For a team still searching for consistent offensive rhythm, the setback of a prolonged Nash absence could be monumental.

Brown stated the obvious Sunday night when he praised Blake but added, "Steve Blake is no Steve Nash."

Blake said, "That's not the role I want. I'd much rather have Steve play. He's going to play a huge role for this team."

Meanwhile, the search Sunday night was for improvements in three key areas: ball security, defense and bench scoring.

• The Lakers had 44 turnovers in their last two games, losses to Portland and the Clippers. They cleaned that up, with only seven in the first half and 15 total.

• They came in ranked 27th in the league defensively, surrendering 106.7 points a game, nearly 11 per game more than last year. They held the Piston to 34 points and 38.9% shooting in the first half.

• Their bench ranked 28th in the league in scoring at 16.0 points a game. That remained an issue, as hoped-for bench scorer Antawn Jamison continues for the most part to be unable or unwilling to take shots. He didn't take a shot in seven first-half minutes, and the Lakers bench had just eight points in the half. Jamison finally pulled the trigger in the final minutes, scoring six points.

The starters, on the other hand, were terrific, as Howard, Gasol, Bryant and even Metta World Peace scored in double figures in the first half.

While trying to do anything he can to keep winning, Brown is concerned about relying on the stars for too many minutes early in the season.

Brown rode Bryant for 42 minutes Friday night against the Clippers. That produced an efficient (14 of 23, 60.9%) 40-point game for Bryant, but it didn't produce a victory and the minutes were "too much," Brown said.

The rout allowed everyone easy minutes. Bryant and Gasol went 32, Howard 33.

Maybe that was enough rest that the Lakers, even the old guys, will have some energy for the next game, too.