Poor free throw shooting and a lack of defensive help aren’t the only things that threw Dwight Howard out of his element in Milwaukee.

Long before the Lakers’ 113-103 loss Thursday to the Bucks became official, Howard innocently walked down the hallway of the BMO Harris Bradley Center likely contemplating about the game. THen an inflatable version of the Bucks’ mascot, Bango, surprisingly shook his head and moved toward Howard.

Startled, the Lakers center spun away from Bango. He then flashed his infectious smile.

“Oooohhhh, that was a good one,” Howard said.

Howard wasn’t the only victim.

The Bucks featured a video of Bango performing the same trick on others. Kobe Bryant barely flinched the same way three years ago when Matt Barnes pretended to inbound the ball toward his face. Pau Gasol politely and graciously stopped to get out of Bango’s way. Carlos Maples, the Lakers equipment manager, looked terrified when Bango suddenly came to life.

All entertaining stuff, unlike the actual game.

Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter. E-mail him at mark.medina@dailynews.com