At 13-3, it's easy to forget that the Houston Rockets are missing an integral piece of the roster- defensive star Dwight Howard, who has made the long road to recovery from ACL surgery. After completing the last several practices with zero pain, Dwight was cleared to play in tomorrow night's game versus the new-look San Antonio Spurs.
Howard is expected to come off the bench "in order to maintain the chemistry in the starting five", according to head coach Phil Jackson, who has been cautious with Howard's minutes over the last two years. Howard has missed the tail-end of each of those seasons with a broken arm and a torn ACL respectively (both injuries altered the playoff landscape), and has averaged just 28.6 minutes per game in his first two seasons with the Rockets in the CSL.
Per 36 minutes, Howard has been elite over the course of his CSL career with the Rockets, with averages of 17.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.8 blocks, and 1.4 steals, while shooting 55% from the field. He was an all-star reserve prior to his injury last season, primarily due to his role as the defensive anchor on an elite team.
However, Rockets GM BizGilwalker feels it necessary to experiment with Dwight Howard's role due to some changes to the roster from last season- mainly the acquisition of the reigning All-NBA 1st team and All-Defense 1st team big man Kenneth Faried. "The Manimal has played well enough on both ends of the floor and we don't want to make any changes to the starting five until we know that Dwight is really back. Dwight will come off the bench at least for the next couple weeks, but will play plenty of minutes with the starters. As long as we keep winning like we are, there are no real reasons to rock the chemistry we've got."
"Dwight must learn to play with Kenneth Faried- I think that's the biggest adjustment right now- they're both guys who thrive in the paint. But they are going to be a fearsome duo on the glass and on defense right away. But I think once Dwight and Faried learn to play together, this is going to get really interesting."
Through 16 games without Dwight, the Rockets lead the league in points per game and field goal percentage, while holding their opponents to the 9th lowest points per game and 7th lowest field goal percentage. Dwight's return figures to only boost these stats in Houston's favor.
