With Soreness, Granger is Day-to-Day

[UPDATE: the Pacers announced on Wednesday that an MRI of Granger's sore left knee showed no new damage. He will rest the knee, receive treatment and then be re-evaluated by team doctors in one week.]

Danny Granger’s status has returned to day-to-day due to above-average soreness in his left knee, the same knee that caused him to miss the first 55 games of the season.

In Sunday’s win over the Bulls, Granger reached down to caress his knee after he fired (and missed) his third and final shot of the game. About 30 seconds later, with 6:26 left in the half, he checked out. At halftime, it was announced that he wouldn’t return for the final two quarters.

Vogel is hopeful that Granger, who didn’t practice on Tuesday, will be able to play Wednesday when the Pacers host the Boston Celtics, but it completely depends on how his knee is feeling. Granger’s pain was from additional soreness and not a new injury, according to Vogel.

When asked whether he thought Granger’s injury may linger on for the rest of the season, Vogel said: “Everything (the training staff) tells me is that it’s not going to be that way. Until they tell me otherwise, I’m still under the impression that it’s going to be a 20-minute-a-game type-of-deal until he’s able to handle more.”

Granger didn’t speak with the media after their win on Sunday or after practice on Tuesday.

Granger made his debut just over one week ago in a road game in Detroit. He shot a combined 2-of-17 from the field in his first two games back. Then, he made half of the 10 shots he attempted and finished with 12 points in a loss to the Clippers. The next day appeared to be his best yet.

In Toronto, Granger came in about eight minutes into the first, as usual, but this time he looked in rhythm and provided the team a boost. He scored six of the team’s final eight points of the opening quarter and the first bucket of the second before checking out for the half, after 10 minutes of work.

Unlike the other times, he didn’t return for the second half. However, considering it was the second night of back-to-back and he’s said he feels about 65 percent, it made sense. When he didn’t return after halftime for the second game in a row, it was evident that something wasn’t right.

Granger was excited just to be back out on the court. He accepted that he could possibly be the answer to their bench problems, at least for the first few weeks while he got back in rhythm and in game-shape.

With a small bump in the road, he must first deal with the tough pains, both mental and physical, of working his way back from injury.