Rockets center Dwight Howard hopes to return on Saturday
Houston Rockets star Dwight Howard said he hopes to play in Saturday's game against the Denver Nuggets, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
Howard has been sidelined since a Nov. 17 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies with a knee injury. He underwent platelet-rich plasma therapy last month.
Before the game against the Nuggets, houston faces road matchups with Golden State (18-2) and Sacramento (11-11).
Rockets coach Kevin McHalesaid on Saturday that Howard "won't be back anytime soon."
Over 10 games this season, the 6-foot-11, 265-pound center was averaging 18.8 points and 11.3 rebounds. With Howard out of the lineup, the Rockets have gone 7-2 and are riding a four-game winning streak.
Howard said Wednesday that he's feeling a lot better than he was a couple of weeks ago.
• MAHONEY: Rockets, Raptors making do without their injured stars
“Nobody has really talked to me about it because they understand that injury, you can’t put a timetable on,” Howard said. “I’m just happy that I’m in better shape than I was a couple weeks ago. I feel a lot better than a couple week ago. Hopefully, everything will go well for Saturday.
“The problem was my cartilage was wearing down and has been wearing down because I’ve been playing basketball for a very long time. When you had the bone rubbing on bone, it brings a lot of pain. Every step, every movement I would make it was just a lot of pain. I wasn’t going to put myself and my teammates through that by trying to play through that. It was something that had to go away for me to be where I wanted to be as a player, be what my teammates needed me to be every night.”
Houston, which has also dealt with injuries to multiple other players, is 16-4 and in fourth place in the Western Conference.
