Everyone knows Josh Howard is one heck of a starter. It's not unusual for him to put up 10 points in the opening quarter. In fact, he's done just that in the last two games. But, often Howard isn't a big scorer late in games.
Coach Avery Johnson said earlier this season that they've been working on that, trying to get Howard more involved. Howard has said he's often given way to Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse, all solid clutch players with seniority. Here's Johnson's take at the halfway point:
"That's something we've tried to address. He's been getting off to great starts here recently. I think sometimes in the second half, maybe he doesn't get the ball as much, maybe we feature him more in the first half, maybe he's not as aggressive as he should be in the fourth quarter. So we've found some ways to try to get him more aggressive in what he needs to do in the fourth quarter. But we think he's a better second half player overall with his energy on both ends of the floor this year than he was last year."
-- Jeff Caplan
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