Former All-Star Danny Granger returned to the Indiana Pacers line-up on Friday after 18 months in the sideline because of a knee injury helping the Eastern Conference leaders to dismantle the Houston Rockets, 114-81.
"It felt good," Granger told IndyStar.com. "When you haven't played in a long time, you want to do something defensively to get into the flow of the game. The crowd went crazy. It was exciting. And we got the win by 33 points (Granger's uniform number). Kind of ironic."
Granger had played with the Pacers in the preseason, but missed the first 25 games of the season because of a calf strain. He missed all but five games of the 2012-13 season because of a knee injury.
When he checked in during the first quarter, the sellout crowd at Bankers Life Fieldhouse chanted his name in tribute to the former franchise player. He made his presence felt on the defensive end, coming from the weak side to block a shot by Houston's Dwight Howard.
Although he looked rusty scoring five points on 1 of 7 shooting, his coach thought he played well.
"It's exactly what I thought we would see," coach Frank Vogel said. "I think he's going to have an adjustment period, and it's going to be a process with his shot-making and his ability to finish plays."
Vogel continued: "But what I liked about it is the way he impacted the game on the defensive end. For all the questions about if he was going to fit in, he shared the basketball every time he had an opportunity to. He shot the open shots in the rhythm of the offense, which we asked him to do. And he went out and he guarded. He played a strong defensive game."
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