In the 2015 NBA playoffs, the Houston Rockets fell to the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals in five games with a limited Dwight Howard. In game one of the series, Howard suffered a leg injury very early in the game.
The above play looked bad and Rockets fans everywhere watched the game with baited breath but it didn’t stop him. Howard still came out and played 26 minutes in the Game one Warriors win. He was hurting but the 2014-15 season for Howard was full of injuries. He missed half of last season with various injuries including a stretch from January to March after undergoing a weird knee procedure. It also appears that Howard played the entire Western Conference Finals with some serious injuries.
Following from Mike Meltser of Sportsradio 610 in Houston.
Dwight Howard just told us on Texans Radio that he played through a torn MCL and meniscus during the WCF vs the Warriors
— Mike Meltser (@MikeMeltser) October 8, 2015
If true, kudos and respect to Howard because overall for the series, Howard played a 35.2 minutes per game on a possibly bum knee. People often get on him for being soft and not being able to stay on the court in recent years to help out James Harden. A healthy Howard is the difference between the Rockets contending for a title and them sitting with the rest of the NBA’s teams.
This is also alarming for Howard to say this right now, before the season starts because he’ll have a big microscope on him, possibly bigger than ever before in his career. Howard will be 30 by seasons end and he will also be a free agent in a summer where over 20 teams will have max money to throw around. Is Howard still deserving of a max contract? Will the Rockets look to dump him before the season ends to get other young prospects? No one knows those answers but right now, Howard is healthy and the Rockets are once again a favorite to compete in a stacked Western Conference.
