Hibbert likely to play through knee bruise for Pacers on Monday
The Indiana Pacers appear to have skirted further disaster, in an uncharacteristic bit of good fortune.
It seems Roy Hibbert avoided serious injury on Saturday when he left the team's game against the Washington Wizards with a left knee contusion. While he was unable to return to that game, he's doing better already and the team has listed him as probable for Monday's game against the Utah Jazz.
Should Hibbert be unable to go, he'll join a laughably long injured list that includes Paul George, George Hill, C.J. Miles, Rodney Stuckey, C.J. Watson and David West. Without their 7-foot-2 center, the Pacers would have just Ian Mahinmi and Lavoy Allen capable of playing the five, all but forcing them to play small for long stretches.
Despite the Pacers' struggles at 1-6, Hibbert has actually had a nice start to his season. Not only is he anchoring the league's No. 10 defense, a relative miracle at the team level considering the injury toll, he's also averaging 12.6 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.7 blocks while shooting 48.4 percent from the floor. It's early, but this looks like a refreshed Hibbert.
| Roy Hibbert | Pts/36 | FG% | Rbs/36 | Blk/36 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-13 | 15.9 | 47.3% | 9.8 | 2.6 |
| 2013-14 Oct-Dec | 14.8 | 48.5% | 9.7 | 3.2 |
| 2013-14 Jan-Apr | 11.9 | 41.0% | 7.0 | 2.4 |
| 2014-15 | 15.5 | 48.4% | 10.2 | 4.6 |
He'll look to continue that strong play against an intriguing young Jazz frontcourt of Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter and Rudy Gobert on Monday.