OAKLAND – Houston center Dwight Howard is questionable to play in Thursday’s Game 2 against the Warriors with a sprained left knee.
Howard said he wasn’t feeling any better on Wednesday morning after colliding with teammate Josh Smith in the first quarter of Golden State’s 110-106 win in Game 1 Tuesday night.
An MRI revealed the sprain. Howard was dressed for practice on Wednesday at Oracle Arena, but indicated he wasn’t able to do a whole lot.
“I think today it’s best that I stay off of it as much as possible,” Howard said. “Try to do a lot of ice, stim, and just get it treated for the rest of the day. See how it feels in the morning.
“If I feel like I can tolerate it and go out there and play through it, then I will.”
Howard attempted to do just that in Game 1, but was relegated to the bench for most of the fourth quarter. That was coach Kevin McHale’s decision, according to Howard.
“It was very painful to play last night,” Howard said. “Coach felt it was best I sit out the rest of the game. I tried to play on it, but there was really nothing I could do last night.”
McHale didn’t have a whole lot to say on the matter.
“We won’t play four-on-five, I promise you,” McHale said about the possibility of not having Howard. “We’ll see where Dwight is at tomorrow, and we’ll make our adjustments accordingly.”
Howard, who had seven points and 13 rebounds in 26 minutes on Tuesday, was limited to 41 games in the regular season with a right knee injury.
