(Reuters) - Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger is expected to be sidelined for about three months with a left knee injury, the National Basketball Association team said on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old former All Star, who led the Pacers in scoring last season with 18.7 points per game to help them reach the Eastern Conference semi-finals, received an injection to help treat his patellar tendinosis, the team said in a news release.
The injury dealt a blow to Indiana's playoff prospects after notching a 42-24 record last season and giving the eventual champions Miami Heat a tough battle in the playoffs before falling 4-2 in the best-of-seven conference semi-finals.
The Pacers, who are 2-2 so far this season and play the Hawks on Wednesday in Atlanta, have started Gerald Green and Sam Young at small forward in the absence of Granger, a 2005 first-round draft pick who is the longest-tenured Pacers player.
(Reporting by Larry Fine in New York, Editing by Simon Evans in Miami.)
