The Houston Rockets are playing the Los Angeles Lakers in the most anticipated game on the schedule for Thursday and the matchup on TNT from the Toyota Center will start up at 9:30 pm and gives Howard the first chance to play his former team, something he really seems to not care about.
Howard has said that the game is not important in the sense that he is playing his former team, but only that the Rockets want to win and he is getting annoyed with all the questions about it. While he may not understand why the media is curious if it means anything to him, that is why Dwight Howard is Dwight Howard and that attitude is why he did not work out in LA. Howard was never a fit there even if everyone wanted him to be and he said to USA Today that the game on Thursday is not a "reunion" game and no, he has not spoken with Kobe Bryant, because presumably he probably hates him anyway.
The Rockets come into the game 4-1 and the Lakers are 2-3 and the team has been playing very well early on in the season and so has Howard and now he has the chance to knock off his former team. The team is coming off of a Portland Trail Blazers win with 33 points from James Harden and 13 rebounds Dwight Howard and now they face the Lakers in an anticipated matchup. The team is ranked fourth in the NBA in scoring and that has been expected, while the team is ranked second in the league in rebounding and Howard has been the main reason for that.
Howard has said the game is not a big deal, but that likely will change once the team makes the trip to the Staples Center. Howard can be a baby and that is what he's doing now by saying he doesn't want to talk about the Lakers, acting annoyed to reporters about it, but now it's all about basketball. Howard was a disaster with the Lakers, which is one reason why he likely doesn't want to talk about it and now he has this game to get past before the January matchup between the two.
Howard said that he has not spoken with Kobe Bryant, who is out with his Achilles injury and now Howard will try and beat his old team.
"It's not a reunion game," Howard told USA TODAY Sports in a lengthy discussion in Portland, Ore., on Tuesday night. "What's the reunion? I think people are making a big deal out of the whole situation. Yeah, I left the Lakers. Ok, I did what I had to do. This is my decision, and for me it's another game. Half the guys on the team weren't on the team last year anyway, so it's really not like a reunion."