Danny Granger ruled out for three months after knee injury more serious than originally thought – NBA News
The Indiana Pacers plans of contending for an Eastern Conference title this season received a blog big on Wednesday when team officials announced that All Star forward and the team’s leading scorer Danny Granger would be sidelined
for three months after receiving an injection on his left knee to treat patellar tendinosis. Granger initially suffered the injury during the playoffs back in May but the soreness healed. However, it re-appeared during the offseason workouts forcing Granger
to play in only one preseason game and miss all the regular season games uptil now.
The Pacers heavily rely on Granger to produce the scoring, and look to him particularly near the end of games to produce clutch shots. His loss will be a big blow for the team and they will have to find a replacement for him on
team who can hold the fort down and add some value at his position.
We still have a heck of a team. We've still got a great deal of talent, a great deal of depth. So my hopes are very high that we'll excel without Danny,” said Pacers Head Coach Frank Vogel before Saturday night’s home opener.
Without Granger, the Pacers have opened the season with a 2-2 record and are averaging 20.3 turnovers per game, a stat that the Pacers coach has admitted needs to be brought in control. In the absence of Granger, Vogel has tried
out Gerald Green who was acquired over the summer. After starting in the first three games, he is averaging 9.8 points and 4.3 rebounds. Sam Young is the other player Vogel started in the game against the San Antonio Spurs, but only scored three points and
three rebounds in that game.
David West, Paul George and Goerge Hill are the other members of the Indiana core that will now have to step up and share the scoring load in the absence of Granger. As of now, they are all averaging double figure points per game,
but need to go beyond that if they want to compete against teams like the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks. Roy Hibbert, the starting centre of the Pacers, will also feel the pressure to score points as the team looks for scoring alternatives.
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