Mike Dunleavy Returns For Part Of Practice With Pacers

Mike Wells reports that Mike Dunleavy returned to practice with the Pacers today. Dunleavy took part in some half-court work with his teammates, taking a stride in the right direction toward a full return to practice.

"At this point we're going by the old cliché of one day at a time," Dunleavy said. "Literally we're going to do that and see how I feel tomorrow and then take it from there. The main thing is I feel good today."

If we follow the return course set by Tyler Hansbrough, Dunleavy will continue with the half-court work while his knee is monitored to assess how it holds up. The next phase will be full-court work and continual assessments until the next thing you know he's on the court playing.

Considering this is day one of the half court work, there's a long way to go. Lucy still has control of the ball, but again, at least the ball is on the ground.

UPDATE: Bruno's report includes this quote from Dunleavy with a timetable of "weeks" before returning to game action.

"Basing on prior comebacks, my conditioning is better than I thought it would be (but) it still needs some work. My timing is going to need some work," he said. "But I've done as much as I can to be ready. I think it's going to be some weeks here but I feel pretty good."