The Houston Rockets got off to an extremely difficult start to their season as they lost their first three games by 20 points each. Part of the reason for those blowout losses was the fact that James Harden shot the ball miserably but another big reason was Dwight Howard's absence. Howard has only played in two games so far this season but reached a season high in minutes on Monday which helped the Rockets get their first win. Still though, Howard is not fully back yet as the Rockets might still hold him out during back-to-backs, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
In Houston's win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday Howard played 35 minutes which was much more than head coach Kevin McHale wanted to play him but he could smell a victory and needed Howard out there. In the game Howard had a big impact as he scored 16 points grabbed eight rebounds and blocked four shots.
The 6 foot-11 superstar center knows that he has to get himself into better shape as he was sucking wind at times during the game but that is to be expected as he missed the vast majority of the preseason as well with his back issue. As of right now the Rockets haven't said officially whether they will sit Howard during back-to-backs but he seems to think that it would be smart at least for now.
"The biggest thing for myself personally is just continue to build, continue to get in shape. As the season goes, I'll be able to play those back-to-backs. Early in the season, I don't think it's smart to do that. People will say, 'Why? You're young.' But I've been in the league for 12 years and I want to be able to walk when I'm done playing basketball. People can say that's selfish or not, but at the end of the day, this is my body. If I don't take care of it now, then I'll be in trouble when I get older," said Howard.
The Rockets play a league high 20 sets of back-to-backs this season with the first one having already passed and the second one coming this weekend. Howard sat the first game of the last set and he will likely sit one of this upcoming set as well. This plan is to ensure that Howard is healthy when playoff time comes around and it is likely the wise thing for them to do.
The Rockets currently are not very deep in the frontcourt so they will have to piece things together when Howard is out. Donatas Motiejunas, Chuck Hayes and Terrence Jones are currently out with injuries which leaves Clint Capela and Montrezl Harrell as the only fully healthy big men on the roster.
