Dwight Howard to make comeback against New Orleans Pelicans

The Houston Rockets have pencilled in Dwight Howard to return from his knee problems against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night.

Howard has missed the last 26 games with the long-standing injury, and the Rockets have been keen not to make any predictions about his recovery in recent weeks.

However, the eight-time All-Star is officially listed as questionable for the Pelicans game and is expected to return to the court with a 20-minute restriction.

Despite losing one of their key men for a long stretch of the campaign, the Rockets managed to go 17-9 in his absence and remain third in the Western Conference.

Howard will not be able to play back-to-back games for the rest of the season, which means that the 29-year-old could sit out three more times before the playoffs.