The New Orleans Pelicans have won their last two games and seem to be headed down the right path after a 1-11 start. The Pelicans were hoping that they might get some reinforcements for Wednesday night's game against the Phoenix Suns in Tyreke Evans but that may not happen now as he is still feeling some soreness in his knee, according to John Reid of The Times Picayune.
Evans underwent arthroscopic knee surgery towards the end of October and was given a timetable of about 6-8 weeks for a return. Evans is way ahead of schedule right now and if he were to play on Wednesday it would be a little more than a month that he missed after the surgery.
Evans got in a full practice earlier this week and thought that it was a realistic possibility to play on Wednesday night but he came out feeling some soreness in his knee so the Pelicans might choose to hold him back a little longer. As of right now Evans is listed as doubtful to play and will be a game-time decision. Head coach Alvin Gentry says that they will not rush Evans back and he will only play if they are sure he is fit enough.
''At this stage, we're not going to do anything that doesn't make sense. There's no reason to rush right now. When the time comes, we'll put him in and see how it goes. But not do anything to take any risk at all," said Gentry.
For his part Evans says he feels strong and confident in his knee but the fact that he felt a little bit of soreness may give the Pelicans reason to pause. The good news though, is that before participating in practice earlier this week Evans was pain free and Gentry has called this all precautionary.
The Pelicans could really use Evans back as they have struggled mightily this season particularly at the small forward spot where he will likely step in. In Evans' absence Luke Babbitt, Dante Cunningham and Alonzo Gee have shared the small forward spot and have not done much with it. All three of them have PER's below 10 so getting Evans back, even if it is on a minutes limit, will be a big help for the Pelicans. Whether Evans will be back on Wednesday is still a question mark but that fact that he is a game-time decision means that he is very close.
