The Indiana Pacers have managed to keep their heads above water this season after losing Paul George to a gruesome leg injury while playing for Team USA over the summer. The injury paired with the free agent departure of Lance Stephenson had the Pacers not expected to do much in the 2014-15 season. However, the team is one-half game out of the final Eastern Conference playoff spot with the return of George looming. Now, they face the worst team in the NBA looking to get one more win as they head to New York to play the Knicks.
The Pacers are preparing to get George back for a potential postseason run in the coming days. The star began full practices last week after months of rehabbing. He made headlines saying he wanted to return March 1 and beat it by three days. Now, the Pacers are just waiting for him to enter the game as the Pacers have altered their plan to keep George out for the entire year. The two-time All-Star will not play against the Knicks, but could come back sometime around mid-March.
The potential return of George could be the spark that the Pacers need in order to beat out the likes of the Boston Celtics for the eighth seed. Beating the 76ers certainly helped while they also got a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. George Hill put up 17 points and nine rebounds against Philadelphia while Roy Hibbert had his first career triple double against Cleveland with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists. They are pairing that with being one of the top defensive clubs as they are limiting opponents to just 96.7 points. In their last two days, the team has limited opponents to 80.0 points on just 35.2 percent shooting.
The Pacers will try and take advantage of a Knicks team looking worse than ever. The team is currently the worst in the NBA, coming off a 124-86 loss to the Sacramento Kings after winning two straight. Right now the team is getting production from players most have not heard of. Alexey Shved finished with 15 points against the Kings which was a team high. They are allowing opponents to shoot 38.8 percent from 3-point range and Jose Calderon could be the next player shut down for the season. The Knicks are bad and the Placers plan to take advantage of it.