Chris Duarte doing fine, but remains out for Indiana Pacers
Since March 13, Indiana Pacers wing Chris Duarte has played for just 5:01 in total. He injured his left ankle against the Detroit Pistons in March as he left the game early, and outside of a brief appearance against the Atlanta Hawks, he hasn't been on the floor since.
In his five minutes of action in Atlanta, Duarte had one assist and one steal. He left the game due to the same ankle soreness that had been plaguing him leading up to the battle. The soreness is in his left ankle, the one he sprained earlier in the ongoing season.
Since appearing against the Hawks, the 25-year old wing has missed four-straight games. Indiana has turned to Oshae Brissett, Aaron Nesmith, and Jordan Nwora to fill out its perimeter forward rotation of late.
Duarte is listed as out for the Pacers tomorrow as they host the New York Knicks. It will be his 10th missed game in the team's last 11 outings and his 34th absence of the season.
He is making progress, though. The 2021 lottery pick could be seen getting up shots at Indiana's practice on Tuesday, and Rick Carlisle was asked about his status at the end of the tune up session.
"He's doing fine," Carlisle said of Duarte on Tuesday after fielding many questions about the Pacers' youngest players. There are three games left in Indiana's season.
This campaign has featured many bumps, mostly due to injury, for Duarte. Every time he gets going or looks like he is fitting in, an ailment keeps him sidelined. It has been an unfortunate pattern, and it happened again this time around as the second-year player was averaging 10.8 points and 3.7 rebounds per game in March on solid efficiency prior to the injury.
In the two months leading up to the ankle soreness, spanning from January 14 to March 13, Duarte averaged 9.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game while shooting 41.6% from the field, 36.5% from three, and 86.4% from the foul line. That two month stretch, in which he only missed two games, was his best run of the season
"He's come a long way. You're seeing that his rhythm, his timing, his conditioning is getting better and better," Carlisle said of Duarte on January 31. "He's getting back to where he needs to get."
There isn't much time for Duarte to return this season, but given that the Pacers have been eliminated and are focusing on internal development, a return could be a welcome sight.
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