Isaiah Jackson injury further sours loss to Pelicans, leaves Pacers shorthanded for Mavericks
The Pacers front court is suddenly decimated with IJax suffering an Achilles injury in New Orleans. For now, the team will have to battle with small-ball rotations.
After the Pacers depth rose up to deliver a big win over the Celtics without starters Myles Turner and Andrew Nembhard, they were unable to overcome a pair of additional injuries in the what turned into a disheartening, 125-118 loss to the Pelicans on Friday night.
Disheartening because losing a player for the season (essentially) is brutal considering the promise IJax was showing in his reserve big man role, while playing for a contract next season. He had been quite impactful on that strong reserve unit.
Disheartening because losing Aaron Nesmith early in the game flipped the plan and limited the options with Nembhard still out. The silver lining was how well Ben Sheppard delivered, making six threes to lift his 3PT% to 50 percent for the season. Also, the Pacers have to keep leaning into the Benn Mathurin experience even if the ride is a bit wild at time. His play hunting ability is needed and does require the attention of opposing defenses which can alleviate a little pressure on Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton.
Disheartening because after all of that, the Pacers had ample opportunities to steal this game down the stretch, even taking a lead midway through the fourth quarter. But two turnovers and a technical on TJ McConnell put the Pels up for good, despite the big shot efforts of Myles Turner and Mathurin.
Tyrese Haliburton continues to struggle scoring the ball while his assist numbers are back on track. He has now shot 50 threes and made just 12 (24%) which certainly offers room for easy improvement, but leveling the shot selection closer to 50/50 threes-to-twos might help too.
So, the Pacers roll in to Dallas to play the Mavs who will be on a back-to-back. The Mavs exerted little effort beating the Magic without Paolo Banchero and also Wendell Carter Jr. who left the game early with injury (rough time for young bigs). The Pacers will be without IJax and Nesmith. With Nembhard questionable, they may have help and at least a strong starting unit with Turner not even on the injury report.
But looking ahead, Turner can only play so many minutes and then the Pacers will be going small with Obi Toppin as a reserve ‘center’ and Enrique Freeman (presumably) in an emergency role. While one or both of Wiseman or IJax could return very late in the season if Achilles rehab goes spectacularly, the team has to consider neither will.
The options for filling the backup big role are slim considering the free agents willing to take a non-guaranteed minimum deal. Bismack Biyombo and JaVale McGee among vets are options. Can I interest you in an Omer Yurtseven? Five games into the season, considering a trade is almost impossible considering the rules that don’t make many players available until mid-December and others in January.
The play of the current group in an adjusted rotation will likely determine the level of desperation going forward. Regardless of how the depth is handled, the stars in the starting lineup have to be stars or it won’t matter in the long run.
That starts in Dallas where the Pacers have an odd, 9:45 p.m. ET tip off time as a quirky NBA promotion on the night before Election Day when there are no games. All 30 teams will play on Monday with each game starting 15 minutes apart beginning at 7 p.m. ET with Bucks vs. Cavs. You can keep track of all of the games on the NBA app with their NBA Crunch Time stream which will bounce around like NFL Red Zone.
Pacers vs. Mavericks
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX
When: Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, 9:45 p.m. ET
TV: FanDuel Sports Network
Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan
Odds: Pacers +4.5
Projected Starters
Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton, Ben Sheppard, Bennedict Mathurin, Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner
Mavericks: Kyrie Irving, Luka Doncic, Klay Thompson, PJ Washington, Daniel Gafford
Injuries
Pacers: Andrew Nembhard (knee) - questionable, Aaron Nesmith (ankle) - out, James Wiseman (Achilles) - out, Isaiah Jackson (Achilles) - out
Mavericks: Dante Exum (wrist) - out, Maxi Kleber (hammy) - out
Also, injuries are terrible and suck. The only silver lining (and it is a bitter one) is that - for those of us that wanted Mathurin starting and Walker playing more - we are getting what we wanted. It shouldn’t have required injuries to Nembhard, Nesmith, and the centers, but we should see significant minutes for the two lottery picks that are so very crucial to Indiana’s success.
The chances of two Achilles injuries to two young centers in less than a week are insane. It is terrible for these two young, talented dudes. I really hope they have successful surgeries and recover to resume their careers.