Dwight Howard Out Indefinitely With Herniated Disk

Dwight Howard has already missed five games this season and it looks like he’ll be missing a few more. The Orlando Magic star was diagnosed with a herniated disk and isn’t expected to play for the next few days.

Magic spokesman Joel Glass told USA Today that Howard was examined by Dr. Robert Watkins in Los Angeles. Howard was seeking a second opinion for his back spasms. As of now, there is no timetable for his return. Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said that he didn’t expect Howard to be ready to play this Sunday against Cleveland or this Monday against Philadelphia.

Hoopsworld speculates that Howard’s injury could last a lot longer than a few days. When Baron Davis suffered the same injury earlier this year, he was out for 31 games.

Howard didn’t play in the Magic’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night. It was the fifth game Howard has missed this season, the most games he has missed in his career.

The Magic are currently in 6th place in the Eastern conference. Without Howard, the team has gone 1-4. The Magic have 7 games left this season and should be able to hold on to their playoff spot. If Howard doesn’t return, however, and the Magic keep losing, they team could fall down to the 8th seed behind the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers.