With the NBA’s worst team in town, the New York Knicks, Pacers (25-34) head coach Frank Vogel is opting to rest a couple of players.
Roy Hibbert, who’s started in all 55 of the 59 games he’s played this season, will get the night off. That moves Ian Mahinmi into the starting lineup for the fifth time this season, and the underutilized Lavoy Allen will back him up.
In another coaching decision, backup point guard C.J. Watson will dress but third-stringer Donald Sloan will take his minutes.
“(Watson’s) dealing with some elbow soreness, a lingering injury, so we’re trying to get him a few days off,” Vogel said.
Before this year, Vogel said that he wished he had rested some of his guys last season. He saw them get worn down throughout the long season, the challenging back-to-backs, and the travel. Moving forward, he’s hoping to avoid making the same mistake.
“[We’re] trying to manage a 7-footer’s body a little better than we did last year so he’s a little fresher down the stretch than he was last year,” Vogel said of Hibbert.
Because of the Pacers’ light schedule to start the week, Hibbert will have four days between games. Vogel said Hibbert will return this weekend, against Chicago and at New York.
Last time the Pacers played the Knicks, on January 29th, Vogel rested Luis Scola. It was his first absence in the last four seasons and remains his only “DNP (did not play) – Coach’s Decision” in his NBA career.
Paul George Update:
The Pacers are still straying away from putting a timeline on a possible season debut of Paul George, who suffered a compound fracture in his right leg on August 1, but here is the latest:
“He’s practicing full-out now,” Vogel offered.”I think he’s done three or four practices now. He’s not at full strength yet so he’s still got some hurdles to get past before he’s able to get out onto the court and play in games. We’re hopeful that that happens this year. We’ll see how the next few weeks progress.”