According to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, Clint Capela is hoping to make a return to the court in the Houston Rockets' first game after the All-Star break.

Capela reportedly joined the team for the first time since having surgery on January 17 to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb. This is obviously great news for Houston that Capela is making significant progress. The Rockets officially ruled him out for four to six weeks following the surgery. Today marks around three weeks since he suffered the injury on January 14 against the Orlando Magic.

Houston will play its first game after the break against the Los Angeles Lakers on February 21. This will be closer to the back end of the time table for the injured 6-foot-10 center. Still, it makes sense for the Rockets to use the All-Star break and hold him out until he is completely healed.

Capela's injury added to the piling number of injuries that the Rockets had at that time. Star veteran point guard had missed over a month after suffering a hamstring injury but has since made his return. Combo guard Eric Gordon also missed eight games in early January due to a bruised right knee.

Capela's absence gave the Rockets a huge void in the middle. They added 29-year old forward Kenneth Faried to fill in for the Swiss big man.

Prior to the injury, Capela was playing at an All-Star level, and had the injury not occurred, he definitely would have had a case to make it on All-Star Weekend's main event showdown. On the season so far, Capela is averaging career-highs in points (17.6), rebounds (12.6), and minutes (34.2) per game.