Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said Thursday that Granger would miss games on Friday at Minnesota and Saturday at Oklahoma City. But an injured right heel that has kept him out of 16 straight games felt good enough in the morning for Granger to play against the Timberwolves.
Granger averaged 24.4 points and 6.1 rebounds in 17 games this season before he aggravated his injury on Dec. 5.
The Pacers also got Troy Murphy back from a sprained ankle. He missed the previous four games. Murphy is averaging 13.8 points and 9.1 rebounds this season.
Indiana was 5-11 without the versatile Granger, who won the Most Improved Player award and made the All-Star team last season. He is the Pacers' top scorer and go-to player down the stretch, and is also a strong shot blocker who can play both small and power forward.
"We didn't have another guy like him that could space the court and be a power forward," O'Brien said before the game. "Now you can use Brandon Rush and Mike Dunleavy and Danny, which by far has been our best lineup to date. That's what we missed more than the apparent things."
O'Brien said he planned to ease Granger back into the rotation, closely monitoring his minutes in hopes of avoiding further injury.
"Danny's missed half of our games," O'Brien said. "You almost have a preseason mentality to play him in short stints and make sure that he's not obviously fatigued out there. That's when they're more vulnerable to injury."
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