Dwight Howard Gets Ejected As Lakers Exit 2013 Playoffs, Magic Johnson Responds On Twitter, 'That Was A Big No No'; Game 4 Recap, Video Highlights

The Los Angeles Lakers bid farewell this season as the San Antonio Spurs beat them in Game 4 of their Best-of-Seven quarterfinals, 103-82. And while a 21-point deficit is enough to turn down the Lakers-nation, the early exit of superstar Dwight Howard during the third quarter of the game made it even worse.

Trailing 55-34 with 9 minutes and 51 seconds still left in the third period, Howard was ejected off the game after being slapped with his second technical foul for arguing. Without Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Metta World Peace on the court due to injuries, and losing Dwight to technicals, it was almost impossible for LAL to grab the win and stretch the series.

"It's over with now," the Laker big man said of his ejection. "I just got to do a better job of trying to keep my cool. It's very tough to be out there playing. It's an emotional game, you don't want to lose, and sometimes when things don't go your way, sometimes you react the wrong way. I just got to keep my cool."

To his rescue, Coach Mike D'Antoni defended Howard, saying that the player never meant to show bad behaviour on court.

"He takes a pounding and after a while I guess his nerves are shot or whatever, but obviously we were in a deep hole anyways so I felt bad for him," the Lakers coach explained. "Understand it's easy when you sit there like us and just watch, but when you're playing you've got a lot of adrenaline going so it's a hard situation and obviously that wouldn't have happened if the series was a little bit different."

However, some people weren't taking Dwight's side on the matter. Former Laker and now ESPN analyst, Magic Johnson, took to Twitter his thoughts on Dwight's season ending performance.

As for Dwight, his game last Sunday could be his last as a Laker. The player will be a free agent on July and when asked about his future with the team, the Superman brushed off the topic.

"I'm going to step away from everything for a couple weeks and clear my head before I do or talk about anything as far as next season," said Howard. "I think I deserve that, and that's what I'm going to do."

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS (NBA.com)