The injury bug took yet another bite out of the Houston Rockets in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday.
Dwight Howard banged knees with teammate Josh Smith in the first quarter against the Golden State Warriors, was unable to make it past halfcourt, and gingerly limped to the bench with what was revealed to be a left knee sprain.
Dwight Howard diagnosed with a left knee sprain and is listed as questionable for Game 2.
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) May 20, 2015
Howard returned to the game, but looked noticeably hobbled and was significantly less active. He shot only 1-of-5 with three turnovers in 16 minutes after returning. He played less than a minute in the fourth quarter before taking a seat and watching the rest of his team's 110-106 loss from the bench.
"It's very painful," Howard said after the game. "I tried to play it off as much as possible, but I couldn't give my teammates what I needed to give them."
Rockets head coach Kevin McHale had little to say about his star center's status, while Howard remained hopeful he'd be able to suit up for Game 2 on Thursday.
Little in the way of clarity has been offered on the state of Howard's knee, but the Rockets are officially listing him as questionable for Thursday's contest.
Through 13 postseason games, Howard has been a rock for Houston in the frontcourt, averaging 16.4 points, 13.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks while playing impeccable interior defense. Opponents are shooting just 45.8 percent at the rim against him, and the Rockets are allowing 3.7 fewer points per 100 possessions with him on the floor.
