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Prior to this year, Danny Granger had missed 21 games in four NBA seasons.

There's a good chance he'll miss more than that many in the next four-to-six weeks as he recovers from a torn plantar fascia in his right foot.

In his first comments since incurring the injury in a loss to the L.A. Clippers this past Saturday, Granger tried to remain upbeat Thursday.

"It's not so much frustration, just kind of disappointed obviously with the way the season's going and the situation with my heel," he said, "but it happens and I'll get through it."

Based on his projected timeline, Granger will miss between 16 and 23 games. Losing their leading scorer for roughly one-fourth of the season will be a major challenge for the Pacers, who've lost six in a row and 10 of 11 heading into Friday's game against New Jersey in Conseco Fieldhouse.

"We need to win, plain and simple," Granger said. "Wherever the points are going to come from, they have to come. We have players that are highly capable of accomplishing that. T.J. (Ford) can score the ball, Brandon (Rush) can score the ball, Dahntay (Rush) can score the ball, Roy (Hibbert) is a great post presence. I think if we all get on the same page, we can pull some wins together.

"Hopefully, by the time I come back, we're hitting on more cylinders than we have these past 18 games. Time will tell. We'll see what happens."

Last year when Granger missed 11 games with a torn tendon in his foot, the Pacers went 6-5. Troy Murphy averaged 18.5 points, 14.3 rebounds and shot 48 percent from the 3-point line. Ford averaged 18.1 points.

"You don't replace an All-Star with one guy," said Coach Jim O'Brien. "Everybody's got to improve their game and bring significant contributions to the basketball court.

"I think T.J. will step up. I think he will be a very significant contributor. T.J.'s the kind of guy that could go on a roll for us. I think Troy is the same type of guy. He can go on a roll."

Granger said his personal challenge will lie in being a good patient and not rushing back too quickly.

"It's going to be hard, I'm not going to lie to you," he said. "It's going to be very difficult. I don't know how we'll be, standings-wise, in the East when it's time for me to come back. I'm going to try to get back as soon as possible and hopefully we're still in playoff contention."

The good news, Granger said, is after battling chronic plantar fasciitis in his foot for parts of the past two seasons, this injury should actually allow him to overcome that problem in the long-term.

"When I come back, according to the doctors I've talked to, I'll be better than I was before so that's a positive from it," he said. "With my absence, it causes other guys to get more aggressive. Brandon, who we desperately need, this may be really important for him because he really has the ability to score the basketball."