Dwight Howard likely out against Mavericks with knee injury

Dwight Howard is "probably" out for tomorrow night's game against the Dallas Mavericks with a knee injury, and there's no word on when he can return to the team.

Howard talked to the media today about the injury, telling reporters it was a team decision to hold him out of Wednesday night's humiliating loss to the Lakers.

Howard: "It feels a lot better. Yesterday, I had to get a shot to clear some of the stuff out. I'm trying to ... get back on the court."

— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) November 21, 2014

Howard would not put a timetable on how long he'd be out. Said "we'll see how it feels tomorrow." Still, Rockets talking as if he's out Sat.

— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) November 21, 2014

If Howard is indeed out tomorrow night, I'm chalking up the game as a loss already. There's no way Terrence Jones is back, which means our big men will consist of Tarik Black and Donatas Motiejunas starting with Kostas Papanikolaou and Joey Dorsey coming off the bench. The Mavericks have Dirk Nowitzki, Tyson Chandler and Brandan Wright. Eep.

Feigen also reported Howard has undergone "platelet rich protein therapy," which is the same treatment Kobe Bryant does every year on his arthritic knee. After seeing what Kobe did to the Rockets on Wednesday -- and what he did the season after his first therapy, where he finished top 3 in the league in scoring and minutes at 34 -- I'm very glad Dwight had this procedure done.

The advantage the Rockets built up in the standings early in the year will dissipate quickly if Dwight is out much longer. After the Mavericks, the Rockets play the Knicks, Clippers and Kings. The Rockets should still beat the Knicks, but the Kings and Clips will be ugly without Howard to guard Demarcus Cousins and the Clippers' frontline duo.