Sixers’ Dwight Howard getting a little more of an offensive mentality

Is Dwight Howard an offensive threat?

Maybe that is getting carried away, but the 76ers backup center admits that he has been working more on his offensive game, lately.

The reason Howard is talking about offense is that on Friday he had his best scoring game in more than a year with a season-high 19 points in Friday’s 126-104 home win over the Atlanta Hawks.

The last time he scored more than 19 points was Jan. 20, 2020 when he scored 21 points for the Los Angeles Lakers in a 128-99 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

All this season Howard has been efficient, but over the last six games he has taken it up a notch. During that time he is shooting 21-for-31 (67.7%) from the field. For the season he is shooting 59.2%.

Howard says lately he is concentrating a little more on being aggressive offensively, while also taking what the defense has given him.

On Friday Howard shot 8-for-11. It was only the third time this season he has been in double figures in field goal attempts.

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His whole mindset is making things easier for four-time all-star center Joel Embiid.

“The biggest thing is knowing that I want to keep the first string defenders off Joel so he can just play free so I try to get as many as fouls as I can when I am in the game,” Howard said. “Being aggressive offensive rebounds, pushing the pace and things like that so when Jo gets in the game, guys can’t foul him and he can go to work and do what he has to do.”

Howard averaged double figures in scoring each of his first 15 seasons when he was a starter. His average over that time was 17.4 points, but he has never taken a lot of shots. During his first 15 seasons he averaged just 10.7 field goal attempts per game.

In his earlier years in Orlando, he was a focal point of the offense. With the Sixers, he often scores second chance points and has also been highly effective rolling in the pick and roll.

All eight of his field goals on Friday were from two feet and in.

“The last couple of weeks I have really been working on finishing in the paint,” Howard said. “...The hard work is paying off and I just want to continue to be aggressive in the paint, go back up strong and finish and force those guys to have to foul me and just play as hard as I can and stay locked in.”

Howard has never been a good free throw shooter. This season he is shooting 56.9%, but in the last 35 games he is shooting 62.3%, showing improvement.

“Dwight is really playing well, really focused right now,” coach Doc Rivers said.

Like his teammates, Howard is feeling much better physically. The Sixers had everybody available to play on Friday.

Howard, 35, played the first 54 games before sitting two out with left knee soreness. He seems to have benefited from a few games off.

“This is an amazing time for us to make sure that we remain healthy,” Howard said. “I think guys are coming back from injuries and stuff like that and getting in better shape so I think it’s perfect.”

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The Sixers (42-21), who trail first place Brooklyn by a half game in the Eastern Conference, begin a three-game road trip on Sunday in San Antonio. There are just nine games remaining in the regular season.

“We want to make sure we hit our stride going in the playoffs and it seems like so far we’ve been able to do that,” Howard said. “We just got to continue to stay locked in an stay focused on our mission.”