Pacers Last Week: Mar. 19 — Ankles sideline bigs, Gaming learns draft position, Fieldhouse naming rights available

A lot happens each week with the Pacers and it’s not easy to stay on top of it. Pacers Last Week keeps you updated on everything going on with the franchise.

  • I wrote about Darren Collison, who returned after an 11-game absence due to a left knee operation, having his best season as a pro.
  • Bankers Life Fieldhouse will be changing names after the 2018-19 season. CNO Financial’s 20-year lease expires on June 30, 2019.
  • The draft lottery was held for the league’s new NBA 2K League and Pacers Gaming owns the 13th overall pick in a six-round, snake draft.
  • Domantas Sabonis suffered a nasty ankle sprain after Philadelphia big man Joel Embiid came down on his left ankle. He will miss several more games.
  • Rachel Nichols gave the Pacers some love on The Jump.
  • C.J. Miles, now with the Toronto Raptors, played his first game back since playing in Indy. He missed their last visit due to the birth of his first child, Ava. He’ll always have love for Indy, he said.
  • Something I found interesting: When asked if Al Jefferson ever had trouble scoring on any player, the Pacers veteran center said it took him two and half seasons to learn how to do so on Jermaine O’Neal – a former Pacer.
  • Also, how about this line from Al when discussing how he’s staying ready: “It’s not that I can’t play, I just don’t play.”
  • They took their annual team photo on Friday. Note how they have their arms around one another in one pose.
  • Former Pacers head coach Frank Vogel, now in a tough situation with the Orlando Magic, earned his 300th win as an NBA head coach.
  • Myles Turner sprained the same ankle three times in a game and X-rays were negative. The team will be proceeding with caution considering the postseason is less than one month away, which is wise.
  • Lance Stephenson had a season-high 25 and five assists Saturday in a road loss to the Wizards. With the win, the Wizards now own the tiebreaker.
  • UMBC star Jairus Lyles, a standout of the NCAA Tournament, was a freshman when Victor Oladipo was a senior. Vic was watching, tweeting “Proud of my young boy Jarius Lyles. Keep your head up family you had a hell of a year! #onedematha”
  • Former Pacer Solomon Hill made his season debut on Sunday after missing the majority of the season with a torn hamstring (ouch)!
  • Indiana is at home for three of its next four games, then goes out west for a four-game roadie — and six of its final eight games.
  • Injuries are piling up for the Golden State Warriors so it’s likely that the defending champs will be without Kevin Durant, and possibly Steph Curry and Klay Thompson in their two meetings to come.

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