Chris Duarte returns to practice after missing game with ankle injury
INDIANAPOLIS – Pacers wing Chris Duarte practiced without issue Monday after sitting out Sunday's game with a sore left ankle. Coach Rick Carlisle said he's hopeful Duarte will be available Wednesday against the Heat in Miami.
"He did a good job today," Carlisle said. "Hopefully he'll be OK tomorrow. We'll see."
Duarte initially sprained the ankle Nov. 4 and sat out six weeks. He hasn't had major issues with the ankle since his return, but said he has had soreness. It flared up in a workout on Saturday, Duarte and Carlisle said, and about an hour before the game it was determined that Duarte wouldn't be available against the Cavaliers.
"I feels good today," Duarte said Monday. "(Sunday) my ankle was sore from something that happened the day before. (Monday) I felt good after resting. ... I'm doing my rehab every day, but it takes time. An injury like that, you have to just be patient with it and listen to your body. Some days you wake up feeling sore and then the next day you're fine. That's how it goes. You just have to listen to your body. That day that you're sore and feel that you can't go, you sit down and listen to your body."
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Duarte is averaging 7.8 points per game this season after scoring 13.1 as a rookie. The 2021 first-round pick and former Oregon star struggled mightily for the first 11 games after his return from injury, but seems to have finally found comfort with his shot, and he's averaging 11.5 points in his last 10 appearances.
However, Duarte did not play in Friday against the Sacramento Kings, either. Carlisle said it was a coach's decision, and Duarte said Monday he was not bothered by that.
"This is business," Duarte said. "Whatever happens, happens. He knows what he's doing, so I just gotta stay down and wait for my time."
Duarte missed time while the Pacers added other players to the rotation. Center Daniel Theis, who missed Indiana's first 52 games recovering from knee surgery, played his first game of the season Thursday and has appeared in the last three.
"I felt like I made pretty good progress," Theis said. "To learn how to play with everybody out there. Play the pace, play the defense. ... I'm pretty tired, three in four and we had practice today. I'm pretty tired, obviously, but in a good way. I'm happy I could be out there and play. It's a good tired. I don't have any pain. It's not like my knee hurts. It's just soreness in general."
Point guard Tyrese Haliburton also returned Thursday after missing 10 games with a sprained left elbow. Haliburton wore a brace on the elbow Thursday, Friday and Sunday, but he said Monday he can take it off. He said it affected his 3-point shooting (7-of-22 over the last three games).
"I was shooting it poorly and it's hard not to blame it on this big (expletive) J.J. Watt brace on my arm," Haliburton said. "It's kinda like, 'What can you do?' So I'm excited. They told me I don't have to wear the brace on my arm, so thank God. Now if I'm missing shots, I can only blame myself."
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers injuries: Chris Duarte (ankle) returns to practice
