In many ways, Kyle Lowry's return to Rockets practice Thursday was symbolic, a sign of progress and possibilities rather than preparation for his return to games.
Lowry's participation was a "huge" sign of his rapid progress since being cleared to begin working out last week, so much so that he went from unsure if he would play again this season to confident he will return.
"This process has gone really fast," he said. "It's gone faster than I believed it would happen. I'll just take it day by day.
"I have a better feeling - I definitely have a better feeling - about coming back this season."
It's been nearly a month since Lowry was hospitalized with a bacterial infection, but he's ahead of schedule. He shot so well that guard Goran Dragic raved, "Kyle was on fire."
Lowry was happy to say simply, "It was fun."
Lowry, 26, said he is rehabbing the groin injury that sent him to the hospital March 8, leading to the discovery of the infection. The 6-0 guard described that injury as being "as much an issue" in his return as coming back from the infection and weeks of inactivity.
But for now, his comeback took a significant step forward. He has such a long way to go, Lowry could not cite a target date for his return. He was concerned even with going from his first practice in a month to the flight to Los Angeles for Friday night's game against the Lakers. But Rockets players saw enough to predict more.
"He's in good shape," Dragic said. "He was making all those shots, penetrating, kicking, making assists. It's going to be nice - he's going to come back - to have more guys to make that playoff push."
Dragic joked that Lowry's shooting exhibition was the result of all that rest.
"He's got fresh legs," Dragic said. "He was shooting that ball. He makes everything that he shot."
But Lowry described his legs as anything but fresh.
"I've got no legs," he said. "I think I was just making them by luck."
Career year
Lowry has been out for 14 games. He is averaging career bests in scoring (15.9 points per game), assists (7.2), rebounds (5.3) and steals (1.8). His 38.8 percent 3-point shooting is also the best of his six-year career.
Yet his play Thursday, given the circumstances, might have been more impressive.
"He was the Kyle of old if you ask me," center Marcus Camby said. "He probably missed one shot. He shot two feet beyond the 3-point line. I know his conditioning is not where he'd like, but it was definitely a good start.
"I haven't played with him or K-Mart (guard Kevin Martin, who is out with a strained right shoulder.) I would like to see our team complete, and how much better we would be if we had those two guys. But today was a good start. It was good to see him out there."
The Rockets are scheduled to practice Saturday in Sacramento, but as with Thursday's practice, they are unlikely to do much scrimmaging. After Saturday, they have only two practices scheduled until the final week of the season, forcing much of Lowry's remaining work to come in individual workouts.
For now, just a week after he was removed from intravenous antibiotics and permitted to train, Thursday's practice was a breakthrough.
McHale optimistic
"Kyle looked pretty good," coach Kevin McHale said. "He moved OK. He did some of our up-and-down stuff. We didn't do a ton of up-and-down today; we did more yesterday. So that's probably what he needs more. Half-court is one thing. It's tough to get your wind back, but he looked pretty good. We'll see where it goes."
It was enough for Lowry to have confidence about where he expects this comeback to go.
"I want to help my teammates," he said. "The way they're playing, I just want to help in any way. My teammates are the best. They really appreciate me, and I really appreciate them. It's a great locker room. I think we have a great group of guys.
"It was fun. It was good to be out there. Huge, from where I thought I was going to be a couple weeks ago. It's always just a work in progress every day, one step at a time. Just go out there and see how I feel tomorrow and take every day day by day."
jonathan.feigen@chron.com twitter.com/jonathan_feigen
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