EL SEGUNDO (CBSLA.com) Jordan Hill of the Los Angeles Lakers returned to practice Thursday after being diagnosed with a herniated disk at the beginning of October.

The Lakers backup forward went practiced two-thirds of the way, but was held out of any contact drills.

“He did everything that was non-contact, which was good,” said Coach Mike Brown after practice. “For us, the way we’re playing, he’s got to know specific routes and reads. There’s a lot he still has to do to play catch up.”

As for Dwight, it’s the same story. Howard still doesn’t know when he’ll return, but he did say his conditioning is getting better.

So Brown will sit Howard once again for Friday’s preseason game against the Sacramento Kings in Las Vegas.