Indiana Pacers target Friday for Danny Granger's return

On Sunday, Danny Granger smiled, and this time he waited before dropping a surprise about his playing status.

"Go ahead. What did coach say?" Granger said, prompting a reporter to dish on Frank Vogel's comments.

After hearing that, yes, Vogel announced that the Indiana Pacers have marked Friday, Dec. 20 against the Houston Rockets as his possible return date, Granger beamed once again and echoed the official team stance.

"We targeted Friday. It's good news. I had a good practice today, I practiced yesterday, I'll (practice) tomorrow," Granger said. "We just want to get some practice under my belt before I'm on the court.

Granger, who is recovering from a left calf strain, has missed every game in the Pacers' 20-3 start this season.

Since Dec. 6, Granger has participated in full practices. However, Granger, 30, has publicly expressed a more optimistic outlook about his return than Vogel.

Whereas Vogel described him as "a ways away" after that Dec. 6 workout, Granger offered this: "I practiced today so obviously I'm not far away."

Then last Tuesday with the Miami Heat in town and a horde of national media recording sound and taking notes, Granger declared that there's "a very good chance" that he would play later in the week – after Vogel had already told reporters that the team had no new timeline set for his return.

"Danny just said what his individual intentions were," Vogel said on Sunday. "It wasn't something that we had talked about other than we're going to get you back and see you practicing. We hadn't set a timeline. I don't know. I don't know why he decided to say (that)."

Added Granger: "We've always been on the same page. Me and Frank talk. After practice, he'll call me in… just because I said hopefully I can play on Friday, I was thinking 'hopefully.' And then when I came and I practiced (last week), I dribbled the ball off my foot twice and shot an air ball on a layup, me and Frank met again (and I said,) 'I'm not ready.'"

However on Sunday, the Pacers and Granger appeared to read from the same script – the one with the word "hopeful" peppered throughout.

"We're going to target next Friday," Vogel said. "Hopeful return. To see how this week of practices goes and hopefully have him back for that Friday game against the Rockets."

Vogel also revealed that he shared a recent conversation with team president Larry Bird about Granger's return.

"Danny was hopeful and Larry just said it's my call, but my response is that it's our call," Vogel said. "We talked about it, we both kind of felt like he would benefit – we would benefit – by him getting another week's worth of practices under his belt, his conditioning, rhythm and timing back to where it should be."

Granger last played in the NBA regular season on March 3. It would mark his fifth and final game of the 2012-13 campaign before a lingering left knee injury required season-ending surgery. While attempting a comeback in early October, Granger pulled a calf in the same left leg.

"Honestly, when I hurt my calf and gave my knee a rest, it felt way better than what it did before," Granger said. "My confidence is definitely coming back."

Though Granger still needs repetitions through the plays, his shooting stroke appears in tact and he continues to impress teammates.

"Now he looks more confident," Paul George said. "He looks more confident playing off his foot, playing off his knees. He's making stronger cuts. He's really pushing it to whereas last year, he was really just trying to see the limit where he can push his knee. But I think now he's more confident in pushing it."

Call Star reporter Candace Buckner at (317) 444-6121. Follow her on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.