Sports
Victor Oladipo ‘Looking Good’ Amid Quad Injury Rehab, Says Pacers’ Nate McMillan
Darron Cummings/Associated PressIndiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo has not decided whether he will play in seeding games when the 2019-20 NBA season resumes at the Walt Disney World resort in Florida, as he rehabs from a quad injury, but his head coach expects him to play in Thursday’s exhibition contest against the Portland Trail Blazers.”I…
Darron Cummings/Associated Press
Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo has not decided whether he will play in seeding games when the 2019-20 NBA season resumes at the Walt Disney World resort in Florida, as he rehabs from a quad injury, but his head coach expects him to play in Thursday's exhibition contest against the Portland Trail Blazers.
“I do. He's going through the practices and he's looking good,” Nate McMillan said, per Eric Woodyard of ESPN. “Our first scrimmage is Thursday and we'll see how our guys feel and get them minutes accordingly. Right now, there is no restrictions on anyone.”
McMillan did say All-Star big man Domantas Sabonis will sit out the scrimmage.
Oladipo has been practicing and said he is focused on taking things slowly before making a final decision.
“At the end of the day, the only thing I'm concerned about is my team, my knee and being able to make sure that I can perform and help them at the highest level possible in this organization right here,” Oladipo said. “So, that's all I'm focused on. I'm taking it one day at a time, reassessing it every day and from there I'll make my decision.”
While the Indiana University product told Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium on July 3 that he wasn't planning on playing in games, Charania reported last Monday that “there is a growing belief” Oladipo will actually try to play following “multiple strong team practices.”
Oladipo ruptured the quad tendon in his right knee during the 2018-19 campaign and did not take the court until Jan. 29 this season.
He has appeared in just 13 games in 2019-20 and worked off some of the rust on the way to averaging 13.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists a night.
Still, the Pacers won six of their final seven games with Oladipo in the lineup before the season was suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their ceiling is much higher with him on the floor, even if the combination of Sabonis, Myles Turner, T.J. Warren and Malcolm Brogdon can carry the offense for stretches.
Oladipo isn't that far removed from his excellent 2017-18 season when he averaged 23.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists and an NBA-leading 2.4 steals per game.
If he does play and plays like that, Indiana can quickly make up ground during its eight seeding games before the playoffs. It is tied with the Philadelphia 76ers in the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference and two games behind the Miami Heat.
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