When Danny Granger was injured from patellar tendinitis early in this season, Indiana looked to be in trouble. Since then, and without Granger, the Pacers are comfortably in the top half of the Eastern Conference owing to the NBA’s best defense per 100 possessions. The team’s offense may get a boost soon, with Granger close to returning to game action. Indianapolis Star beat writer Mike Wells lent insight into how probable it is Granger could play as soon as Wednesday night against Charlotte.
West missed practice today b/c he had difficult time sleeping last night due 2 scratched eye. Vogel believes he’ll play 2morrow vs Charlotte
— Mike Wells (@MikeWellsNBA) February 12, 2013
And before u ask, a decision on Granger playing tomorrow won’t be determined until tomorrow to see how he responds from today’s practice
— Mike Wells (@MikeWellsNBA) February 12, 2013
The Pacers’ offense hasn’t been pretty all season, but its defense hadn’t hit their stride, either, when he was hurt and news spread he’d be out for months. Paul George hadn’t emerged as an All-Star. Granger looked like an MVP candidate solely on how bad the Pacers looked during their 3-9 start, but that image of Indiana changed quickly once they showed they still knew how to manage the Heat and the Knicks in a four-game win streak in early January. Adding Granger back into the mix will obviously curtail George’s role to a degree because both are scorers — Granger averaged 20.2 points per 36 minutes last season, his worst average since 2007-08 thanks to the worst shooting of his career at 41 percent. And still, this is in no way a bad thing for Indiana, which gets a dynamic offensive threat back on a favorable timeline: he can ease back Wednesday, rest and recover during All-Star Weekend, then play in his next game a week later on Feb. 20 against the Knicks.
What do you think of his impact on the Pacers?
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