Pacers to rest George, West and Stephenson in season finale Wednesday

With just one regular season game left to play and the top seed in the Eastern Conference wrapped up, the Indiana Pacers will sit a few of their key players down on Wednesday.

The decision to rest Paul George, Lance Stephenson and David West makes a great deal of sense, given the workloads they've each endured this season. They rank ninth, 21st and 53rd in the NBA in total minutes played on the year, having missed a combined total of just five games.

Meanwhile, playing George Hill and Roy Hibbert is justifiable. While Hibbert has looked "worn down" at his own coach's admission, he's averaged fewer than 30 minutes and endured a nearly identical workload last season to no ill effects. Hill, meanwhile, averages 32.3 minutes, but the team may just be uncomfortable sitting everyone down at once.

In addition, the game is on the road, in Orlando, so there is no risk to upsetting the team's fans. The only possible downfall to the Pacers losing this game would be the potential to lose home court advantage in an NBA Finals match-up with the Clippers or Rockets, something that is putting the cart before the horse (and making some pretty loose assumptions).