Houston Rockets: Dwight Howard Cleared For Back-To-Backs
Did you see the Houston Rockets game last night?
Yes, apparently they were facing the Memphis Grizzlies and they were looking to overcome two devastating losses in a row.
Although things were looking on the up-and-up, the Rockets failed miserably to close the deal last night.
The Rockets trailed for most of the game and all of sudden, James Harden caught on fire and willed the team back within as little as two points as the game on.
But despite that, they couldn’t get over the hump.
So despite his 40 points, five rebounds and five assists, it just wasn’t enough.
Jason Terry started to warm up a bit to the tune of 13 points that he was able to add to the Rockets scoring column but ultimately when nobody else can conjure up points then it’s going to be hard to win games.
The ball has to go into the hoop too.
The team ended up shooting 42.3 percent for the game but went ice-cold in the 4th, not scoring a field goal until the 2:01 mark to which Terry gets the distinct honor for doing that.
Ugh.
On top of that, it was extremely difficult for Dwight Howard to get into a rhythm as he was more concerned about the non-calls from the referees causing him to get a technical along with Tony Allen after they got into it later in the game.
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He finished with 12 points, five rebounds in 39 minutes of action.
His ineffectiveness surprises me as he usually can win each of his match ups but he’s no spring chicken anymore and he’s still getting back to full strength from the knee surgery he had earlier this year going back into last season.
But there’s some better news on that front.
After not being cleared by the Rockets’ medical staff to play back-to-back games, he has been given the go-ahead to do so starting with the next back-to-back.
The Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan Feigen reports:
Dwight Howard said will be permitted to play both games in upcoming back-to-back.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) November 25, 2015
When’s the next back-to-back in the schedule?
We won’t have to look further than late this weekend where the Rockets are on the road facing the Knicks Sunday and head to face the Detroit Pistons Monday before returning home Wednesday.
This is glorious news considering this team does not do well at all without him.
They’re currently 4-6 when he’s not in the lineup and team nearly has nearly a three-times as much shot-block advantage when he’s around.
The Rockets have 65-24 advantage thus far in that category.
If Donatas Motiejunas were here, then we wouldn’t miss a beat but he’s still out and keeps inching closer day-by-day for a return.
But the biggest question was why wasn’t he allowed to play this past back-to-back when the team just had three days off?
I’m no medical doctor but I think he would’ve been okay playing against the New York Knicks this past Saturday night as we were no match for the inside presence of Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis who both combined for 38 points and 20 rebounds while the latter adding seven blocks on his own.
Yikes.
We needed Howard then and we need him now more than ever.
It’s time to see how this experiment “works,” especially with it being on the road and I certainly hope it’s for the best.
This team need some good luck for a change.
Let’s just not lose to the 0-16 Philadelphia 76ers tomorrow night, I’d totally pull all of my hair at that point.
Go Rockets.
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