Pacers Going to Memphis without Nembhard and Haliburton

The Pacers backup point guard will miss the preseason opener, while the starter will join the team in time to play on Sunday.

Following their practice on Saturday, the Pacers are headed to Memphis for their preseason opener against the Grizzlies on Sunday evening.

Jack-of-all-trades guard, Andrew Nembhard will not make the trip after having a procedure to remove a kidney stone on Friday. Nembhard as at the St. Vincent Center on Saturday getting up shots after practice, but he will not play against the Grizz nor Houston on Tuesday.

Among the many camp battles for minutes up and down the Pacers roster, Nembhard’s dynamic role in the rotation is set in stone. While he will begin games as the backup point guard, it is also likely he will finish many games to fortify the Pacers defensive effort down the stretch of games.

According to Rick Carlisle, he hopes Nembhard will be ready to go when the team returns later in the week. FanJam with an intra-squad scrimmage is next Saturday ( Oct. 14) followed by the two remaining preseason games at the Fieldhouse on Monday, Oct. 16 (Atlanta) and Friday, Oct. 20 (Cleveland).

Starting point guard Tyrese Haliburton also did not take the team flight on Saturday afternoon, instead staying behind to attend the WWE Fastlane event featuring John Cena at the Fieldhouse on Saturday night.

Haliburton did not no, or at least would not divulge, any role he may have in the event. Carlisle joked he’d prefer his team leader wasn’t put in a sleeper hold. Haliburton said he became a fan of professional wrestling as a kid, watching all of the big events with his Uncle Gary. They would team up to convince his mom to buy the pay per view events.

As for the actual game, we will see how the Pacers’ effort to improve their defense is progressing. Haliburton said the coaches haven’t let he and Bruce Brown play a lot together, so he’s looking forward to working with Brown in a game situation.

Haliburton described the defense as more traditional, which we have to assume is more straight man-to-man, let rotating and switching.

Memphis will be a great test even without Ja Morant in the mix. Their front court will provide a challenge to the Pacers’ focus to improve their effort on the glass to finish off those defensive possessions.

As for Morant, the league levied a 25-game suspension on the Grizzlies’ star due to several off-court problems last season. It turns out, the Pacers are the 25th game on the schedule for Memphis, so it turns out this will be a good look for the Pacers even with Ja sidelined.