Injury Roundup: Indiana Pacers Edition
Because of all of the injuries to the Indiana Pacers have had in the last 10 weeks or so, I figure it’s probably worth dedicating an entire post to the injuries the team has and where certain players sit availability-wise with less than a week before tip-off.
Paul George
Nothing new here, although it is nice to see him taking some shots at practice. When you consider the severity and graphic nature of his injury back in early August, fast-forward to Media Day about three weeks ago without a walking boot, fast-forward to now and he’s taking flat-footed practice shots? Incredible. If I had that injury, I’d be out until about 2023 – and I have an 8:30-5 office job.
Still though, the line of thinking has to remain the same: if the Pacers are headed for the playoffs, by all means bring George back and give them an emotional boost heading into a tough matchup, likely against a team such as Chicago or Miami. If the Pacers are done playing in April, no reason whatsoever to rush him back for a couple games that only affect the final standings and lottery odds.
David West
The Pacer faithful’s collective hearts dropped into its collective stomach when power forward David West hurt his ankle in a preseason game against Dallas. Not just injured his ankle, but injured it to the point that he was in so much pain that he couldn’t join his teammates on the other end of the floor and couldn’t put hardly any weight on it leaving the court. Add that to the image of him sporting a boot and a cane in practice since? Not promising. However, according to a recent ESPN report, all signs point to him being ready Opening Night this coming Wednesday at home against the 76ers.
George Hill
In an injury that went a little under the radar from this week’s preseason game in Minnesota, Hill hit the deck while driving to the lane in an apparent knee injury. Knee injuries are always scary, especially when there wasn’t a ton of contact and the joint basically seems to buckle underneath the body. According to a report from Scott Agness, there’s some noticeable swelling and Hill is “day-to-day” for now. No word yet on his availability for Opening Night, but Hill’s status for Tuesday seems much more up in the air than West at the moment.
C.J. Watson
C.J. Watson, George Hill’s primary backup, has barely seen the floor this preseason with a foot injury. Right now, the word is that it’s not serious and that the decision to hold him out of games is more precautionary than anything at this point. Nonetheless, there’s no reason to believe he won’t be ready for Philly next week. Either way, expect Donald Sloan to be sporting his uniform instead of a suit and tie in the season’s early goings just in case.
Rodney Stuckey
The most likely candidate to start at shooting guard to replace Lance Stephenson may have to wait a little bit as he deals with a sprained foot. In a recent ESPN report, Stuckey will be “reevaluated” before Tuesday. The term, “reevaluated,” doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence here as there isn’t a ton of legitimate concern about Hill to this point and even less about David West. It’s entirely possible that another player, likely C.J. Miles, will get the spot start on Tuesday.
Ian Mahinmi
Back when the FIBA World Cup was going on, we told you that Ian Mahinmi suffered a shoulder injury that came with a pretty broad window for a return. Well, fortunately that shoulder injury hasn’t appeared to bother or limit him during the preseason. Consider him good to go as Roy Hibbert’s first backup off the bench.
The walking E.R. that is the Indiana Pacers right now clearly have some injuries to keep an eye on, especially to West, Hill, and Stuckey. With no more Lance Stephenson in town and without Paul George for the vast majority of the season, these were three starters who would be leaned on for heavy minutes. So, the hope is that these ailments now don’t linger, especially with so much less room for error to make the playoffs, which the club is still clearly striving for. Vogel will have a delicate act of balancing minutes while still trying to field the most competitive lineups with which players he has available. The concern here is that Hill has missed a handful of games each of the last couple seasons and missed 16 contests in the lockout-shorted 2011-2012 season, which is a similar recent injury history to Stuckey. The main worry with West is his age. Injuries to West’s 34-year-old body will likely mean more than the (hopefully) more minor injuries to Hill and Stuckey, both 1986 babies.
Fortunately, it sounds like George is the only long-term injury still in play, although it will be interesting to see who is able to suit up and in what capacity when the season gets going in less than a week.