Pacers to get George back
A little more than eight months after breaking his right leg during a Team USA scrimmage in Las Vegas, Indiana Pacers star Paul George will make his season debut Sunday night against Miami.
Coach Frank Vogel said George will play about 10 to 15 minutes, probably in the first and third quarters.
Larry Bird , the Pacers’ president of basketball operations, said Saturday that George had been cleared for game action awhile ago but was kept out because he was still working out with a limp.
“He’s not going to run as smooth as he used to, but over time he’ll get better and better. Just in the last month I’ve seen a major difference,” said Bird. “Everybody thinks Paul George is coming back and that he’s 100%, but he’s not 100% and he’s in no condition to go out and play a 30-minute game.”
George said that he was the one who made the final decision to return to game action.
“I had to push it through Larry and the whole front office,” George said. “It was me telling everybody I was ready. We kind of knew it would be around this time. I just told them I was ready.”
The Atlanta Hawks signed 6foot-11 forward Austin Daye to a multiyear contract. Daye played in 26 games, including four starts, with San Antonio before he was waived Jan. 17.