Ron Howard sat out Saturday's 113-106 Mad Ants loss at Los Angeles with a knee injury he suffered Friday at Bakersfield.

With no structural damage to the knee, according to Ants coach Duane Ticknor, the sooner Howard returns to the lineup, the better off the Ants will be before this modest two-game losing streak starts downhill and becomes four or five, which would all but wipe out an eight-game winning streak.

It's not just Howard's 19 points per game that are missed, but also his leadership, on-ball defense and, frankly, another body so backup point guard Anthony Harris won't have to play 42-plus minutes, as he played in L.A.

Harris racked up 12 assists but also had five turnovers. In the team's plus-minus system, similar to that of hockey teams, Harris was the team's worst at minus-11.

The Ants (11-12) had to travel cross country on Sunday to face Canton (14-10) on Monday in Ohio.