Injuries plague Pacers as playoff race intensifies
Indiana Pacers fans have gotten used to injuries popping up at the most inconvenient of times over the past decade. Paul George broke his leg in a freak accident during a Team USA scrimmage before the 2014-15 season and the Pacers best shot at a title in 10 years was flushed down the toilet. Last season, after a promising start that had Indiana in the heart of the playoff picture, breakout star Victor Oladipo suffered a devastating knee injury that kept him sidelined for all of 2019.
The 2020s have proven to be no different, as the Pacers lost shooting guard Jeremy Lamb to a horrible knee injury against the Raptors in February just weeks after Oladipo made his return. The Pacers injured list has gotten so long recently that you might save some time listing the players who AREN'T injured instead.
Just yesterday it was announced that starting point guard Malcolm Brogdon is week-to-week with a torn left quadriceps, while forwards TJ Warren and Doug McDermott also both missed Friday's win over the Chicago Bulls and remain questionable for tonight's matchup with the Dallas Mavericks.
Indiana beat the Bulls Friday night thanks to strong performances from the end of the bench. Guard Edmond Sumner had his best game in months as he scored 12 points, dished out five assists and knocked down a pair of three-pointers. Forward JaKarr Sampson tied his season-high with 14 points on an efficient 5-6 shooting and also grabbed five rebounds while providing a much needed spark of energy for the Pacers.
The Pacers will likely need to rely on their depths of their bench as they head into one of their toughest stretches of the season. Indiana has 19 games remaining and 12 of those games come against teams currently in the playoff picture, including four of their next five opponents. Here's a quick breakdown of who's healthy for the Pacers and what you can expect from them while Indiana works back to full health.
Point guard: Aaron Holiday and TJ McConnell were thrust into larger roles this season as the Pacers have dealt with injuries to Oladipo early on, and now to Lamb and Brogdon. McConnell has proven to be a reliable playmaker, abveraging 5.0 assists in just 19 minutes a night, while Holiday has shown a consistent stroke from beyond the arc, nailing 40.3% of his threes this season. Both will find themselves more heavily featured in the offense while Brogdon recovers from injury.
Shooting guard: Oladipo has shown signs that he is slowly returning to form, averaging 16.7 points on 50% shooting in his last three games, but he has also missed a few games due to knee soreness since returning to the lineup. Oladipo is questionable for the matchup with the Mavericks, so if he sits out, except to see much more of Sumner and rookie Brian Bowen II, who made his first career start against the Bulls.
Small forward: With Warren and McDermott both still questionable to play, Justin Holiday is the only healthy small forward on the Pacers roster. Holiday has played 25 minutes a night off the bench for Indiana and his reliable shooting from deep (41.7% on the season) has been very important for the Pacers this season. Expect more of the same from him in a few more minutes of action until Warren or McDermott return to action.
Power forward: All-Star big man Domantas Sabonis has been the Pacers best player all season and that isn't likely to change until Oladipo is officially back to full strength. There have been plenty of games where Sabonis was the best scorer, rebounder and passer on the court for Indiana, and there will surely be plenty more in the coming weeks. Sampson has struggled to crack the Pacers rotation, but showed a good spark on Friday and will hope to build on that momentum going forward.
Center: Myles Turner is the anchor of the Indiana defense and that will be the case as long as he wears the blue and gold. Turner hasn't been a focal point of the Indiana offense this year, as evidenced by his lowest points production since his rookie year, but the Pacers know he can score and have relied on him to stretch the floor from the perimeter while Sabonis works more inside the paint. Rookie Goga Bitadze fills out the bench for Indiana, and much like Sampson, he has struggled to earn much playing time this year. The Georgian big man will hope to earn more time on the court as injuries provide him an opportunity to do so.
As the Pacers stare down the barrel of a brutal closing stretch while sitting just two games away from home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, they'll need contributions from every last man on the roster in order to close the gap.