It’s an especially tough time for the Indiana Pacers, who are reeling from a wave of injuries that has hit most of the core roster. Those championship dreams of the team were dashed when Tyrese Haliburton went down with a torn Achilles tendon in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Now, with Aaron Nesmith missing at least a month with a left knee injury, things just keep getting tougher for them. The Indiana Pacers entered their game against the Golden State Warriors with a lackluster record of 1-11. They were inexplicably unable to establish a rhythm this year.
Nesmith has been an under the radar stud for the Pacers so far this season. Foster is averaging a career-best 15.5 points and 4.5 rebounds over 11 games. His loss will only exacerbate an NFL-worst roster that’s been pushed to the brink by injuries. Indiana’s head coach Rick Carlisle stated that the injury is really bad for Nesmith. He said, “Realistically it’s probably going to be a minimum of four weeks.”
Besides Nesmith, though, the Pacers are missing five other players, adding to their struggles. Making things even more complicated, newly returned Andrew Nembhard had just started establishing himself after missing six games with a shoulder injury. In fact, he scored a career-high 31 points in the Pacers’ only win over Golden State on November 1. This performance most significantly marked the first glimpse of his potential in an otherwise disappointing season.
He was a big part of that too before he was knocked out by a toe injury, having scored 31 points in two games. What his status will be is unclear as the team continues to deal with the effects of these injuries.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle gave an encouraging update on Nesmith’s recovery. He acknowledged that it would likely be at least four weeks’ time before hearing anything, but still it was a glimmer of hope. “Talk to me on [December] the 15th. That may sound like bad news, but it’s actually extremely good news — very, very good news. He’s not in a brace. He’s walking. I would put the over/under at four weeks. That doesn’t mean it couldn’t be less. It’s unclear at this time. But he’s doing amazing, amazing well now and the news was extremely, extremely good.
Now, the Pacers are in a very difficult stretch moving forward. They’re going to require their other second-year players to take leaps this year and provide answers with Nesmith out. With critical matchups ahead, the team’s ability to adapt and overcome these challenges will be crucial for their season’s success.
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