Simply getting out of the first round isn’t Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey’s idea of a successful season for a team that’s led by two superstar-caliber players, but doing so would at least end a playoff drought for both the team and Dwight Howard personally.
Howard wanted to leave the Magic because he felt he had a better chance of winning a championship elsewhere. But the eight-time All-Star and three-time Defensive Player of the Year still hasn’t won a playoff series since forcing his way out of Orlando. While the Rockets haven’t won a playoff series since defeating the Portland Trailblazers in six games in spring 2009, Howard hasn’t been part of a series victory since the 2009-10 season, when he helped the Magic sweep the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference semifinals. In fact, Howard bowed out in the first round his last three postseason appearances. (A back injury in the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season forced Howard to miss the Magic’s first-round playoff series with the Indiana Pacers, which the Magic lost 4-1.) His teams are 4-12 in playoff games he’s played in dating back to the 2010-11 season.
LeBron James, Chris Paul, and Carmelo Anthony, franchise players whose exits from their original teams also caused a stir in the media around the same time Howard made it known that he, too, wanted a change of scenery, have each won at least one playoff series since switching jerseys, though James is the only one of those players who has won a championship (two championships, in fact) and since returned to his original team. In all fairness, Howard’s postseason flop in the 2012-13 season, his lone season with the Los Angeles Lakers, wasn’t all his fault. Although Howard was playing alongside Pau Gasol, injuries forced Kobe Bryant to miss the Lakers’ first-round series with the San Antonio Spurs that year, and Steve Nash was able to play in only two games of that series because he was dealing with his own ailments. It was clear the shorthanded Lakers were no match for the Spurs, who promptly closed out the series in four games.
Nevertheless, after his Rockets came up short last year in a very winnable series against Portland, there are but so many excuses that can be made for Howard, especially when he has James Harden for a teammate. When healthy, Howard generally is considered the league’s best center, if not one of the league’s best players. But elite players get it done in the playoffs, not just statistically, but also in the bottom-line category: the win column.
The Rockets are hoping that he will produce numbers this postseason that are a bit more becoming of one of the league’s top stars (he averaged 15.8 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 41 games in an injury-plagued regular season, all below his career averages) and resemble the splendid stats he put up last postseason (he averaged 26 points, 13.7 rebounds and 2.8 blocks in the series against Portland). Winning another playoff series would also help re-establish Howard as an elite player.
It helps that the Rockets will have home-court advantage to start the postseason for the second straight year. It also helps that they’ll be playing the talented but inconsistent Dallas Mavericks. A few weeks ago, Morey said he believes this Houston team is good enough to win a championship, let alone a playoff series. Even if season-ending injuries to Patrick Beverley and Donatas Motiejunas have softened Morey’s stance, he sees the Rockets as a legitimate title contender because of Harden and Howard.
If Mark Cuban’s recent claim that Houston is “not a very good team” isn’t enough to motivate Howard, his playoff record in recent years should be motivation enough. Harden will be looking to validate his MVP acclaim. Howard? He probably wants to remind everyone that his presence also makes a huge difference. Statistics say a lot, but postseason wins speak even louder. Assuming Howard, who was slowed this season by swelling in his right knee, is healthy enough to go full bore, now is the time to for him to start amassing playoff victories again.