PORTLAND – If you thought Reggie Jackson would be back quicker than it’s taken for him to return from a December sprained ankle, move over. Reggie Jackson thought he’d be back sooner, too.
“I never thought an ankle sprain could be this serious or hold you out that long,” he said Sunday after taking another step – full court, four-on-four basketball – toward his return. “I never expected to miss whatever amount of games as I did. I really thought it was a four-week thing, even though people said six to eight. I took the news like everybody else. Once we got to that point, realized it said ‘re-evaluation.’ ”
Without going all Web MD, Jackson’s injury is a useful lesson that “ankle sprain” is more a layman’s term than anything approaching a sophisticated medical diagnosis. What Jackson had was complete tears of the ligaments in his right ankle, not merely stretched or partially torn ligaments.
He’s missed 36 games and nearly three months since landing awkwardly in a Dec. 26 rout of Indiana that left the Pistons with a 19-14 record and sitting in the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Pistons are 11-25 since losing Jackson and have won one road game over that span.
No one is under the illusion Jackson’s return will spark a playoff surge with the Pistons 6½ games out of the last spot with only 13 games remaining. But, if nothing else, getting Jackson back would give him some peace of mind.
“I would hope to definitely get back on the court here soon,” he said after practice at the University of Portland. “I missed competing. I missed being out there with my guys. I just miss playing in the arenas, doing something I love to do. I’m just doing everything I can to get back and get back to the joy of playing basketball.”
The Pistons have a back to back at Sacramento and Phoenix over the next two days, then play at Houston on Thursday to wrap up a six-game road trip before returning to host Chicago on Saturday.
“A lot of it is what happens tomorrow (in response to Sunday’s activity), but we’re hoping maybe this week he’ll play at some point,” Stan Van Gundy said.
Jackson had an ice pack on his ankle and admitted it was throbbing at a pretty good rate after Sunday’s escalated workout. But every step of his progression gives him a little more confidence that the ankle is healed and capable of supporting instinctive movements.
“Still think about it every now and then,” he admitted. “But that’s part of it. We’ve been doing a great job of retraining and making sure, taking the proper steps to get it healthy. Playing today, I thought about it every now and then, but for the most part I’m just going out and playing, trying to make reactionary plays and just be myself.”
With nearly three months of rust and the need to work into basketball shape, Jackson’s role is likely to be limited for at least the first few games whenever he returns. But any minutes he gets this year will give him that much of a head start in gaining familiarity in playing with Blake Griffin.
“The chemistry of playing with some new guys, Blake, especially, and just seeing how the new dynamic of this team works,” he said of the benefit of returning before the season ends. “So it would be great to just get back on the court, figure out chemistry with them. But just for myself, I just want to play again.”