Pacers coach Jim O'Brien has taken Dahntay Jones out of the starting lineup.

Jones is having a career-year for Indiana after signing a four-year, $11 million deal this offseason.

However, O'Brien has replaced him with Brandon Rush in the starting lineup.

"I think Dahntay deserves to start, but I think it's better for our rotation if Dahntay comes off the bench," O'Brien said. "Dahntay knows I think he's a starter."

O'Brien says he'll stick to a starting lineup of Rush. T.J. Ford, Danny Granger, Troy Murphy and Roy Hibbert when the team returns to full strength.

"The whole plan throughout the preseason was to pretty much play the team that we had success with at the end of last year," O'Brien said, "but we weren't healthy enough to do that."