Pacers F Danny Granger out for three weeks
By CLIFF BRUNT
ISL Editor
Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger will miss approximately three weeks as he rehabilitates a strained left calf injury sustained in the preseason, the team announced Monday.
A news release said the length of time is a precautionary measure as the team wants to ensure Granger is physically ready to play in light of missing all but five games last season due to his knee injury.
Granger left the 92-85 preseason loss to Dallas on Oct. 16. He missed most of last season while recovering from surgery on his left knee. The team said the rehabilitation time is strictly related to the calf injury.
Granger has been the leading scorer for the Pacers for most of his career, and the 30-year-old’s scoring punch is expected to be a key element as Indiana battles Miami, Chicago, Brooklyn and the New York Knicks for Eastern Conference supremacy.
Granger had played a team-leading 87 minutes combined in three preseason games up to that point. He left the Dallas game with 4:05 left in the first quarter. He made 1 of 4 shots and scored three points before leaving the game.
Granger’s progress had been encouraging before the Dallas game. He was coming off a 15-point effort against the Houston Rockets in Taipei, Taiwan and had shown no ill effects from the pounding.
He scored 11 points in 16 minutes against Chicago on Oct. 18 before the Pacers shut him down for the final two preseason games.
