Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle on Monday expressed his excitement to see that rookie Isaiah Jackson has fully recovered from a knee injury suffered last month.
Jackson suffered a hyperextended left knee on Oct. 27 against the Toronto Raptors. Carlisle said at the time that Jackson would be out for a while given the nature of the injury. However, Jackson made good progress in his recovery and was eventually cleared last week.
The 22nd overall pick spent time with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in the NBA G League last week to rehab the injury. He appeared in three games and did not show any lingering effects from the injury, averaging 12 points, six rebounds, three blocked shots and one assist.
Carlisle is glad to have Jackson back following his rehab assignment.
I’m just so happy, thrilled for him to see him back in an NBA game with no knee brace on. It was about a month ago when we were in Toronto when this thing happened, a little less than a month ago — a very scary situation. We were all very concerned. He was concerned. It just turned out that he got very lucky so he is back and feeling good. He is a guy that is going to be ready to help us if called upon.
Jackson logged nearly five minutes of action on Monday during a 32-point victory over the Chicago Bulls. He had played sparingly prior to suffering the injury but could be a candidate to see spot minutes during certain situations now that he is healthy.
The team believes Jackson has the ability to impact games on both ends of the floor and could look to work him into the rotation. Above all else, the team is certainly just glad to have him back again.
This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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