Howard continues to deal with back soreness, and the origin of the injury has been described as a slight pain that was compounded by a long plane trip.

The injury happened while Howard was working out in the offseason without his usual team of trainers, according to several people close to the player. By late August, the pain worsened after Howard took a 15-hour flight to China for a shoe promotional event. The return trip lasted nearly 24 hours for Howard and his close associates, according to a source.

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The taxing round trip caused Howard’s back to stiffen and by the time he reported to Washington, the team decided to take the precautionary route in holding him out of practices.

While the soreness has forced Howard to spend his time in the trainer’s room rather than the hardwood, several people, including Howard, have maintained that the injury is not serious.

“Just a minor setback, but shouldn’t take that long for me to get back on the court,” Howard said last week. “I’ve been feeling great all summer. Just something that we’ll have to deal with, but it shouldn’t keep me out too long.”

Though he hasn’t made an impact on the court yet, Howard has remained in high spirits. On Friday, he helped “coach” the white team during the Wizards' open scrimmage at the Entertainment and Sports Arena. Later in the festivities, he led the crowd in cheering for the dunk contest participants.

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Every other healthy player participated in the scrimmage and in Howard’s week-long absence, Ian Mahinmi has practiced with the starting unit. But when the team hosts the New York Knicks, Coach Scott Brooks does not plan to extend his starters past one half of basketball.

“No one’s going to get heavy minutes,” Brooks said. “Don’t know exactly how many minutes but I can’t imagine too many guys getting over 20 minutes.”

Instead of an extended showcase for all-stars John Wall and Bradley Beal, as well as Otto Porter Jr., the opening preseason game should feature the players on roster who have more than just conditioning to worry about.

“There are guys who are trying to fight for minutes and guys who are trying to make the team,” Brooks said. “So I take it serious because I’ve been that position before and I would’ve wanted my coach to take it serious, to give me a great opportunity. We’re doing the same thing for all our guys. We respect the game and we want all of our minutes played well and played hard.”

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Although in training camp, Brooks alluded to Porter playing some minutes at the center spot, he does not anticipate testing out that new small-ball lineup just yet. But the rotations may not preclude veteran forward Jeff Green from moving to the center position.

Green, who was born and raised in the area, will play his first game in a Wizards uniform and Brooks hinted that he will play a versatile role.

“We definitely will see maybe Jeff Green at the five,” Brooks said.