INDIANAPOLIS — Three Pacers players and one assistant recently exited the league’s COVID-19 protocols but two more players have entered.
Starting point guard Malcolm Brogdon, rookie guard Chris Duarte, reserve guard Jeremy Lamb and assistant Lloyd Pierce rejoined the team for practice Friday. However, Indiana coach Rick Carlisle announced that reserve swingmen Torrey Craig and Justin Anderson are now out due to COVID-19.
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Craig missed the Pacers’ last game, a 129-121 home loss to the Nets on Wednesday, due to a sore right groin, but he was in attendance. Anderson, who recently signed with the Indiana on a 10-day hardship contract because of its COVID-19 issues, played seven minutes against Brooklyn.
“They’re gonna be on the clock and looking at days and cycle counts (the level of the virus a person carries), and negative and positive tests,” Carlisle said. “I don’t know exactly when those guys went in (the NBA’s health and safety protocols). I don’t know what exactly would be considered Day 1, but that’s two good wing players.”
Starting shooting guard Caris LeVert, reserve big man Goga Bitadze, rookie forward Isaiah Jackson and swingman T.J. Warren, who has not played this season as he continues recovering from a stress fracture in his left foot, remain in the league’s health and safety protocols.
Although Brogdon, Duarte and Lamb rejoined the team, Carlisle would not say whether they’d be available Saturday night when Indiana hosts Utah at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
“I’m not gonna give any update there. I’m getting out of that business,” Carlisle said. “We’ll let you know at the last second (Saturday). How’s that for being honest?”
Whether he plays or not, Duarte said he’s just glad to be out of isolation. The former Oregon star is averaging 13.2 points per game this season but has missed the Pacers’ last four contests.
“(Isolation) was not great. I was in the basement by myself. I could hear my son calling me out, ‘Papa! Papa!’ and that’s the worst feeling, man,” Duarte said. “You got a couple days off, but you can’t be really around your family, around the people that you love and the people that you want to be around.”
The Jazz, who had their 10-game road winning streak snapped Friday at Toronto, are also shorthanded due to COVID-19. Star center Rudy Gobert and reserve guard Joe Ingles entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols earlier this week.
“They’re certainly not easier to guard offensively because they’re gonna put more shooting and more quickness and more skill out there,” Carlisle said. ” … It creates a different set of problems on some level, but trying to slow those guys down is difficult. They’re a highly-, highly-rated offensive team, and they’re a great road team.”
Follow IndyStar Pacers beat writer James Boyd on Twitter: @RomeovilleKid. Reach him via email: jboyd1@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers: Torrey Craig, Justin Anderson enter NBA’s COVID-19 protocols