Victor Oladipo, conspicuously absent during the Pacers' losing streak, returned to practice Thursday for the first time in 10 days, and while he wouldn't promise he'll play in Saturday's game against Chicago, there was a compelling bit of evidence.
After practice, and after the players had been called back from their closing huddle to sing "Happy Birthday" to the 32-year-old Al Jefferson, Oladipo suddenly burst from the mass of oversized humanity and threw down a ferocious dunk. Notably, he jumped off his right knee, the previously sore one that had kept him out of the past four games and limited him the one before that.