Clippers’ Randy Foye has busy night in return to lineup

Randy Foye was an especially busy man Thursday night.

He played seven minutes in the first half against the Indiana Pacers.

When he wasn’t playing, he put heat on his left leg and rode the exercise bicycle to keep the leg loose. In all, he played 13-plus minutes and had four points and two assists.

And the left hamstring seemed to survive. He is the first of the three injured Clippers to return — the other two are center Chris Kaman (sprained left ankle) and point guard Baron Davis (swollen left knee.)

“Overall, I felt pretty good, moving side to side,” said Foye. “The stuff they put me through yesterday was 20 times harder than the game.”

Foye had played only in the Clippers’ first two games of the season, having strained his left hamstring in practice Oct. 30. He missed 10 games and was eager to get back in the depleted lineup, moving up his return by a couple of days.

Similarly, Foye hopes to use his powers of persuasion on Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro and trainer Jasen Powell.

“Hope to pick up three or four more minutes,” he said. “I felt pretty good. I know they were monitoring.”

The Clippers did dodge an injury scare in the first half when it looked as though Blake Griffin tweaked his left ankle. “It’s all right,” he said afterward. “It wasn’t too bad. I think I stepped on somebody’s foot. It’s definitely not as bad as the last time I did it.”

Etc.

The Pacers were without starters Darren Collison, who has an injured ankle, and Mike Dunleavy Jr.

Dunleavy, the son of former Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy, missed the game because of the birth of his daughter. That resulted in the first start of the season for Brandon Rush, who scored 14 points.

lisa.dillman@latimes.com

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