NBA

Pendergraph also missed Monday's practice, and he remains in the hospital with his wife. The Pacers are "hopeful" he'll re-join the team on Wednesday in advance of Game 1 vs. Miami, but he's considered questionable at the moment.

West is responsible for changing the culture with the Pacers, and both Indiana and West have gone on the record saying they'd like to remain with each other. Regardless, the Clippers will have West on the radar, and it wouldn't surprise us to see the veteran cash in with another multi-year deal around $10 million per season like the contract he's playing on now. West played with Chris Paul in New Orleans.

When asked if the injury would be an issue, West replied, "Nah." He is the Pacers' third-leading scorer during the playoffs at 15.5 ppg on 47.0 percent shooting, while playing nearly 35 minutes per game, and the good news is that his strained calf has a few more days to fully heal.

Game 1 vs. the Heat won't be played until Wednesday and there's no doubt that Pendergraph will be in uniform. Whether he plays in the series is another question, as he made just two brief cameos vs. the Knicks in the second round.

Hill suffered his concussion during Game 5 on Thursday, but he cleared the NBA's rigorous post-concussion protocol very quickly. He shot just 2-of-10 from the field, but as usual he made his free throws (7-of-7), played strong defense, and committed just one turnover -- he boasted a 2.8 assist-to-turnover ratio this season, ahead of Deron Williams and just behind Rajon Rondo and Greivis Vasquez.

Stephenson didn't turn the ball over once in 34 minutes and he knocked down 9-of-13 FGs and 7-of-8 FTs in what was easily the biggest and best game of his NBA career. He has blossomed in heavy minutes with Danny Granger (knee) out of the picture, making his $930k team option for next season a no-brainer, but for now he's focusing on Dwyane Wade, the Heat, and a possible trip to the NBA Finals.

He remained symptom-free the whole way following the NBA's Return-to Participation Exertion Protocol and team physicians cleared him to play tonight. The Pacers were a different team with Hill out in Game 5, shooting 36.2 percent from the field while not taking care of the ball with 19 turnovers. D.J. Augustin will move back to the to the bench.