Heat at Pacers
Indiana star Paul George will play for the first since badly breaking
his right leg last August when the Indiana Pacers host the Miami Heat on
Sunday. George will be limited to 10-to-15 minutes of action as Indiana
doesn’t want to push him too fast while acquiescing to George’s craving
to return.
“It’s almost like being drafted again and getting thrown back out there again for the first time,” George told reporters. “It’s that same feel.” Miami has slipped into ninth place in the Eastern Conference after blowing a 15-point fourth-quarter lead in Saturday’s 99-98 loss to the Detroit Pistons. The Heat are a half-game behind the eighth-place Boston Celtics for the final playoff spot in the East and Indiana sits 1 1/2 games behind. The Pacers registered an impressive 93-74 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday to snap a two-game losing streak.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, Sun Sports (Miami), FSN Midwest (Indiana)
ABOUT THE HEAT (34-42): Miami has picked a poor time for a rut and has lost six of its last eight games – four of those by double digits – with the collapse against the Pistons being especially disappointing. Miami had a 93-78 lead after a dunk by James Ennis with 7:02 remaining before Detroit closed with a 21-5 surge. “It’s going to be tough to get over this game,” guard Dwyane Wade told reporters. “It’s a terrible loss … there’s no way we should lose this game.”
ABOUT THE PACERS (33-43): President of basketball operations Larry Bird is cautioning people on what to expect from George as the buzz over his return reverberates throughout Indianapolis. “He’s not going to run as smooth as he used to, but over time he’ll get better and better,” Bird told reporters. “Just in the last month I’ve seen a major difference. Everybody thinks Paul George is coming back and that he’s 100 percent, but he’s not 100 percent and he’s in no condition to go out and play a 30-minute game.” George’s original injury was gruesome in nature as he had his leg caught in the basket stanchion during a Team USA scrimmage in Las Vegas and the leg snapped in two places.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Indiana has posted six consecutive regular-season home wins over the Heat.
2. Miami C Hassan Whiteside is averaging 13.3 points on 18-of-27 shooting in three games since returning from a hand injury.
3. Pacers PG George Hill had just four points on 2-of-11 shooting against Charlotte after averaging 22.7 points over the previous six games.