National Basketball Association

Pacers star George reportedly eyeing mid-March return

Published Feb. 14, 2015 7:23 a.m. ET

foxsports

The Indiana Pacers could be getting their All-Star shooting guard sooner than expected.

Paul George is eyeing a mid-March return and might make his season debut as early as the Pacers' March 14 game against the Boston Celtics, Yahoo Sports reported.

George hasn't played since suffering a gruesome injury to his right leg on Aug. 1 while playing in an exhibition game for USA Basketball. George sustained a compound fracture when he landed awkwardly while attempting to block a shot.

"March 1 isn't when I wanted to play my first game, but when I wanted to be full-out practicing, doing up-and-down full court without any restrictions or limitations," George told Yahoo Sports. "From there on, it's seeing how far I can progress to where I play my first game. My hope is it's an opponent where I feel comfortable coming back to where there isn't too much pressure to perform, where I can ease my way back in. But I want to say around mid-March, I could probably come back around that time."

George's return would be a shot in the arm for the Pacers, who are 21-33 and sit two games out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. If the Pacers can earn a playoff berth, George, who averaged a career-high 21.7 points last season, said he can envision a first-round matchup against the Atlanta Hawks or the Cleveland Cavaliers.

"That would be ideal," George said about playing Atlanta or Cleveland in the first round of the playoffs. "I think if that happens the story kind of writes itself. That would be ideal, especially if we go against Atlanta in the first round because we were the first seed last year. That's a rematch they want for sure as well."