Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard is ready to return to action Wednesday night, head coach Kevin McHale says.
McHale says he is starting Dwight Howard tonight.
— Jenny Dial Creech (@jennydialcreech) March 25, 2015
Howard has not played since suffering a knee injury in early February. The eight-time All-Star is averaging 16.3 points, 11 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game in 32 appearances this season. With 12 games remaining on the Rockets’ schedule, Howard will have plenty of time to get back in shape before the playoffs begin.
Houston has faired well without Howard in the lineup. They’ve all but secured the third seed in the Western Conference behind the MVP-level play of James Harden. Third-year center Donatas Motiejunas has proven a capable contributor in Howard’s absence, posting averages of 12.6 points and six rebounds per game in a starting role.
On Tuesday, Harden told USA TODAY he doesn’t plan to change his game once Howard returns to the team:
“(Howard) said, ‘I’ll be returning soon, but I don’t want you to change your game,” Harden told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday. “He said, ‘I don’t want you to do anything different. Just go out there and do what you do, and do it at a high level every single night.’ He said, ‘I’ll adjust to you,’ and that right there gave me confidence to just play, and play my game and not worry about anything else. Once you hear that from your other leader, then you know you can just go out there and play the way that I’ve been playing.
“I definitely needed to hear that, and he told it to me. So right there that gave me all the confidence in the world, not to try to force it to get him into a rhythm or try to do anything forceful. I can just play my game. Him telling me that just gave me the green light to just go out there and just be the James Harden that I’ve been being all season.”
Behind Harden and Howard, Houston should prove to be a very difficult out in the Western Conference.
Photo: USA Today