Dwight Howard has been cleared to play in both games of the Rockets' upcoming back-to-back set, Calvin Watkins of ESPN reports.

Howard has been cleared to play in both games of the Rockets' upcoming back-to-back set on Sunday and Monday, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com reports. However, Howard's minutes may be monitored. "I'm ready to try it out," Howard said. "They didn't want me to start off the season playing back-to-backs and putting a big load on myself, but my body is feeling pretty good and I haven't had any setbacks all season. We're looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to it even though I won't be playing as many minutes as I would in a regular game, just being out there and being able to battle two nights in a row."

Analysis:

Thus far, Howard has been held out of one half of Houston's back-to-back sets as he continues to work back from a nagging back issue. After being evaluated this week, Howard has been given clearance to play both halves, so he'll be on the court Sunday in New York and Monday in Detroit. Howard noted that he may only play, "Maybe 20, 25 minutes each night," however, which obviously diminishes his value a bit in daily formats during such scenarios. Howard is averaging 14.4 points and 14.4 rebounds this month, but he's attempted a total of just 20 shots over his last four games.