Dwight Howard will return to the Hawks lineup after a one-game injury absence Friday against the Hornets.
Howard missed Wednesday’s game against the Bucks after with a left quad contusion. He suffered the injury, just above his knee, when he collided with the Heat’s Hassan Whiteside Tuesday.
Howard went through shootaround on Friday morning and coach Mike Budenholzer said the starting center would return to the lineup.
Howard said he will play through some pain.
“There is a little pain but I should be fine tonight,” Howard told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I’ll keep doing what I’ve been doing the last couple days (in rehab) because that has made a big difference. It’s nothing really major but that game (missed) there was obviously still a lot of pain, lot of swelling. The last couple days I’ve been trying to get that swelling down and diffuse the pain.”
Howard is averaging 14.8 points and 12.3 rebounds. He leads the NBA in offensive rebounds at 4.9 per game and is tied for third in total rebounds.
Hornets coach Steve Clifford is very familiar with Howard having served as an assistant coach when both were with the Magic and Lakers.
“He was so good, and this is not an exaggeration, you would be driving home after the game and you would say ‘Wow. How good his this guy?’ He dominated this league.”
The Hawks will be without reserve forward Thabo Sefolosha for a second straight game. Sefolosha was a late scratch Wednesday with a mild left knee sprain. Sefolosha went through shootaround Friday. He confirmed the injury occurred when a Heat player fell on him though he continued to play. He said he started feeling pain when the team returned to Atlanta following the game and the following morning. Sefolosha described himself as day-to-day concerning a timeline for his return.
“Nothing too bad,” Sefolosha said.
Sefolosha is averaging 8.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 1.9 assists. He is second in the NBA in steals and his .559 field goal percentage is third in the league.
