Dwight Howard’s 28-point, 12-rebound, 2-block effort in Houston’s 111–99 win over rival Dallas on Tuesday night not only extended the Rockets’ lead in the best-of-seven set to 2–0 over ex-teammate Chandler Parsons new team, it also sent notice to the rest of the league that the once-limited, and still dominant, center is back and healthy.
And if Howard is finally 100 percent, Houston has a weapon few in the West (maybe Memphis’s Marc Gasol. Maybe.) can defend one-on-one.
Howard missed 41 games, half the season, with various knee injuries this past year and actually posted his lowest scoring (15.8) and rebounding (10.5) averages since his rookie season 10 years ago, while his 1.3 blocks per contest are his worst ever.
But the drop in production was mainly due to a strained knee injury that cost him 11 games in November and December. Then in late January, Howard went down again in a game against Phoenix with another knee injury. He underwent a bone marrow aspirate injection soon after and didn’t return to action until March 25.
