George has been out all year with injury suffered last summer…
Indiana Pacers star Paul George is closing in on a return from a broken leg after he finished his first full practice on Thursday, three days ahead of schedule.
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George has been sidelined for the last seven months after sustaining a broken leg in the build-up to the FIBA World Cup last summer following an unfortunate collision with the basketball stanchion.
Although the Pacers forward has joked about returning to face LeBron James on Friday night, there is no clear timetable set for his return as the organisation will likely continue to be cautious with him as they will not want their franchise player to suffer any setbacks.
Nevertheless, the 24-year-old has made great progress in his rehabilitation so far as he has recovered quicker than anyone had expected.
However, George conceded that he still needs to work on his conditioning after such a long layoff while the confidence in is vertical jump still isn’t there in his right leg and so there is still plenty of work to be done before he can make his return to competitive action.
“Paul is not going to be out there unless he’s Paul George,” coach Frank Vogel said, ESPN reports.
“He’s eager to get back on the court, but not before he’s ready. Once he’s mentally cleared to play in a game, he’s still got to be ready to (actually) play in a game.”
George’s eventual return will be a significant boost for the Pacers who have found form recently and have improved to 23-34 for the season after winning six of their last eight games.
Although their record is still far from impressive, it is enough to ensure that they are just two-and-a-half games adrift of the playoff spots in a weak Eastern Conference, but it is clear that George will only return when all parties are happy that he is 100% healthy and fit.
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