Lakers Dwight Howard
Photo: Nelson Chenault/USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Lakers will hope to close out the Western Conference Finals series against the Denver Nuggets in Game 5. Lakers center Dwight Howard expects the game to be tough as Denver will be giving their best effort.

Michael Malone’s squad has already climbed up from a deep hole twice, as they were 1-3 in the first two rounds but ended up winning both times.

Howard, who saw his role increase after seeing very limited minutes in Houston series, became an important asset for Los Angeles against Denver.

He expects the Lakers to have a sense of urgency and to treat the Game 5 as if it was Game 7.

Per Broderick Turner of Los Angeles Times:

“They’re going to give us their best shot,” Lakers center Dwight Howard said during his media session. “They’re not going to let up. They’re a really good team, very well coached. We understand that. We’re one step closer to our dream, so we’re not going to take our foot off the gas. I think we’re going to bring more intensity than we brought before. We have a well-experienced group of guys on our team, even coaches. We understand how important this series is and this game is, and that we should treat it like a Game 7 with our intensity and our effort, and just play as hard as we can.”