Before last Friday’s game against the Cavaliers, Cleveland head coach David Blatt surprised the media scrum with the news that he would be giving LeBron James the night off. Then tonight, 100 paces down the hall from where Blatt told of James’ night off, Pacers coach Frank Vogel made a similarly surprising statement—that he would be giving Roy Hibbert a night of rest against the New York Knicks.

The move, Vogel said, was to maintain the health of his seven-footer, something he felt that he could’ve done a better job with in previous seasons.

But as it turned out, against the hapless Knicks — owners of the league’s worst record — Vogel could have put himself in at center, and Indiana still probably would have come out on top. After the 105-82 win, which was also accomplished without the services of C.J. Watson, who was also give the night off, Vogel talked about the ancillary benefits to resting players.

“It’s my job to keep everybody fresh,” Vogel explained. “This is kind of a two-part move, much like we did with Luis Scola earlier in the year when we sat him down for a game, it was going to be a couple of games before Lavoy (Allen) got hurt. We’re committed to Lavoy Allen. Lavoy Allen is a heck of a basketball player, and he’s proven that every time he’s got an opportunity this year.”

After the game, Allen was in a jovial mood, joking with teammate Shayne Whittington about getting some playing time before talking about the serious benefits of seeing some live game action.

“It helps to stay in shape,” he said. “You gotta be out there, especially this late in the season.”

Another beneficiary of Hibbert’s night off was center Ian Mahinmi, who got the start in the Big Dawg’s place and hauled in a team-high eight rebounds.

“For me and for us in this locker room, we have that next man up mentality,” Mahinmi said. “So starters are starters, but guys are ready to step up and play more minutes.”

From the standpoint of staying sharp and fit, Mahinmi is adamant about the benefits of getting game experience.

“You can never replace that game action,” he said. “Of course we practice hard, but you can never replace that live game action.”

Vogel said after the game that he would consider giving other key players nights off in the future, such as David West or Scola, but said his decision whether or not to do so would rely on how the season is going.

So while the Pacers are thankful it was routine rest and not injury that kept Hibbert out of the lineup tonight, his absence cleared the way for those waiting in the wing to hone their skill and stay in game shape — just in case they need to be used in the future.

“It’s huge for us, and you never know what can happen,” Mahinmi explained, “So we have to keep everybody sharp and everybody focused.”