Roy Hibbert ruled out in Dallas, just his seventh missed game in six seasons

Roy Hibbert is as dependable as they come.

DNP’s are rare for 55.

But Monday night, the Pacers will be without their starting center in Dallas.

Hibbert sprained his left ankle on Saturday and although he joined the team on their Texas Two-Step trip (Dallas on Monday, San Antonio on Wednesday), he will not suit up against the Mavericks.

That’s rare for the Big Dawg. It’ll be just his seventh absence over the last six seasons — and since his rookie campaign. Hibbert didn’t play in 12 games as a rookie. Since, he’s missed only one game per season, except for the 2012-13 season, when he was also suspended for one game to bring that year’s total to two.

Impressively, just two of those seven DNP (did not play) were for health reasons. The other five were coach’s decisions to rest him, mostly at the end of the season with the playoff seed locked up.

Therefore, it’s been 1,706 days since Hibbert last missed a game due to injury.

In seven NBA seasons, just 19 missed regular-season games for Hibbert. That’s 470 games he’s played in of a possible 489 (96 percent), including tonight.

Veteran forward Luis Scola has him beat, nonetheless. The 34-year-old has played in every game in seven of eight seasons in The Association. He missed eight games due to a left knee injury during the 2010-11 season.

Hibbert’s Games Missed:

2014-15: 1
Nov. 24, 2014 – Pacers in Dallas. Hibbert suffered a sprained left ankle in Saturday’s loss to Phoenix.

2013-14: 1
Apr. 9, 2014 – Head coach Frank Vogel rested all five starters in a 104-102 win in Milwaukee.

2012-13: 2
– Feb. 8, 2013 – Hibbert served a one-game suspension against the L.A. Clippers (Pacers 99-91) loss after Roy and Golden State’s David Lee got in an altercation two days prior.
– Apr. 17, 2013 – Last game of the regular season so George Hill, Paul George, David West, and Hibbert all sat. (105-95 76ers over Pacers).

2011-12: 1
In their second-to-last regular season game, on Apr. 23, 2012, Hibbert was rested in a 107-97 over Detroit.

2010-11: 1
He started 80 games. He was “given the night off” with an upper respiratory infection (sick) on Jan. 19, 2011 at Golden State (110-108 Pacers loss).

2009-10: 1
Mar. 24, 2010 – 99-82 home win over the Wizards; sprained jaw from the night before at Detroit.

2008-09: 12
In his rookie season, Roy did not play in 12 games — but never consecutive games.

Team Comparisons:

So, as the Pacers and Mavericks square off tonight in Dallas (8:30 p.m. ET), the difference in their injury reports is staggering — and kind of sad…

Pacers: Rodney Stuckey (probable, Sprained Right Wrist), C.J. Miles (questionable, Sore Right Calf), Paul George (out, Rehabilitation, Fractured Right Tibia/Fibula), Roy Hibbert (out, Sprained Left Ankle), George Hill (out, Bruised Left Knee), C.J. Watson (out, Bruised Right Foot), David West (out, Sprained Right Ankle)

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