IC Cold Links: More Minutes For Dunleavy Create Another Wrinkle With Playing Rotation

Since his return to the court, Mike Dunleavy has quickly established himself as a key player regardless of when he plays, and with Danny Granger out  maximizing the available minutes for Dunleavy is critical.

So, suddenly (miraculously?) the Pacers have the enjoyable task of trying to figure out how to best use Mike Dunleavy. Personally, I'd love to see Dunleavy continue coming off the bench, especially when Granger returns, to help balance out the rotations, playing a role similar to Jason Terry in Dallas. He could still play the same amount of minutes and finish games.

I realize Jim O'Brien wants to start the best players available and with Granger out, it makes more sense to start Dunleavy, although bringing him off the bench would also make it easier to manage his minutes since last night that was obviously a problem.

So how should the Pacers use Dunleavy?

After the jump, several links of interest from last night's game.

• AP: Howard powers Magic to 106-98 win over Pacers

• PACERS: Inside the Game: Pacers at Magic
  Bruno's Inside the Game report has all of the numbers of note from the game and there were plenty.

• Pacers can't contain inevitable
  Mike Wells reports on the late Orlando run wiping out the Pacers' early success.

• Orlando Magic rally to beat Indiana Pacers at home
  Brian Schmitz reports on the Magic rallying to take down the Pacers.

• Orlando Magic 106, Indiana Pacers 98 - Third Quarter Collapse
  Ben Q Rock recaps the Magic escaping with a win last night.

• Pacers Notebook: Dunleavy makes 1st start of season
  In the notebook, Wells touches on Dunleavy exceeding his extended minutes limit. The free throw differential and Jeff Foster's reaction to Jonathan Bender's return to the NBA.

• Jones or Rush?
  Wells blogs about the starting lineup, wondering if Dahntay Jones will be starting for Brandon Rush soon, assuming Mike Dunleavy remains in the starting lineup.

• Vince Carter leads team in scoring after missing practice, shootaround with stomach ailment
  Tania Ganguli reports on the Vince Carter and the Orlando Magic putting things together just in time to beat the Pacers.

• NBA 'Watchability' Scale: Ranking Every Team Based On Entertainment, Not Talent
  Well, the Pacers were definitely watchable for most of the game last night. They also fared better than I expected in Mike Prada's rankings of teams simply by their watchability.