Paul George took his weekly turn with the media again on Friday and said...well, it's hard to say.
George offered no hints when he might make a game appearance for the Pacers, and seems to be tapping the brakes a bit on the likelihood of playing this season. While he spoke hopefully of a mid-March return in previous weeks, he's now concerned about disrupting the flow of a team that takes a seven-game winning streak into Saturday's game against Boston.
“I'm on the fence,” he told reporters following Friday's light workout at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. “They've come together. To shake up the chemistry and add another body, I don't want to be that guy who destroys what these guys have going. And then there's part of me who thinks I can definitely help turn these tough games into games we have fully under control.
“It's difficult. It's a difficult point right now...but we take it day to day.”
George still spoke optimistically of the physical improvement he's made since breaking his leg on Aug. 1. He experiences some soreness “but I push through those days.” He's worn an elastic sleeve on his right leg the past two days in practice because his leg feels better when he does, but he has no significant pain in the formerly broken leg.
“It's all starting to come back to me as far as not even thinking about how to come off screens or how to position myself,” he said. “It's all starting to get natural again.”
George said his ability to defend at a level approximating the one that made him a first-team all-defense selection last season will be the determining factor in whether he feels he should return – but also said
he's defending well in practice.
“I've been good,” he said. “That's...the reason I say the Paul George now is blowing out the Paul George of two or three weeks ago. I'm moving better, getting the coverages down, playing stronger on the defensive end.”
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George had thrown out a mid-March return as his goal during interviews over All-Star Weekend last month, but isn't guessing at dates now. Coach Frank Vogel earlier in the week had nixed the possibility of him playing on Saturday, but nobody is saying yes or no to future dates. The Pacers' first game next week is Monday at home against Toronto. They follow with road games at Chicago on Wednesday and Cleveland on Friday, and then have a home game against Brooklyn on Saturday.
“Is there a chance you'll play next week?” he was asked.
“I have no idea,” he said.
If and when he does return, George will come off the bench and play spot minutes. He likely would continue to play as a reserve, potentially strengthening a unit that's already one of the best in the NBA.
“I don't know who I'd be playing over,” he said. “I'm not looking to come back and start and play 30 minutes.”
The bottom line: George still hopes to play this season.
“It's about how I'm feeling, how the medical staff thinks I look,” he said. “I want to. I definitely want to play still.”
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