Rick Carlisle and the Indiana Pacers recevied good and bad news, regarding Aaron Nesmith's knee injury, adding to a laundry list of sorts for the shorthanded defending Eastern Conference champions. Upon losing Tyrese Haliburton for the season, Ben Mathurin (toe) has been out since October, which is the same month Obi Toppin surgery was announced. The Pacers were awarded a hardship contract signing amid injuries.
However, the good news for Nesmith and the Pacers is he avoided a long-term injury, but will miss time, Carlisle said, per The Indianapolis Star's Dustin Dopirak.
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said after Thursday's 133-98 loss to the Suns that Nesmith (knee) avoided a serious injury, but he will miss some time, Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star reports.
Aaron Nesmith joins the long list of injuries for the Pacers, including to their thinning backcourt that's playing without Johnny Furphy, who suffered a left ankle sprain, Kam Jones is dealing with a back injury, and Quenton Jackson is sidelined with a hamstring injury.
With five rotation players ruled out for an extended period of time, the Pacers used their hardship contract signing on Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, which brings Indiana's active roster to 11 players.
Pascal Siakam brutally honest take on Pacers' struggling season
All-Star Pascal Siakam described the Pacers' situation as almost laughable, considering their absurd amount of injuries. There's no question as to how the 1-11 Pacers are tied with the Wizards with the NBA's worst record. In a 117-115 heartbreaking loss to the Bucks last Monday, which was their last winnable game that came down to the wire, All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo's game-winning shot sent them home with yet another loss.
After the game, Siakam was transparent about the Pacers' trying season during his postgame media availability, as The Indianapolis Star's Dustin Dopirak noted.
“It's almost laughable. But it's not funny,” Siakam said. “You want to feel good about the effort, but the result isn't there. It's hard, hard time for us as a team. We just have to keep going. … It's hard to be positive but we have to.”
Thursday's 133-98 loss to the Suns extended the Pacers' losing streak to six.
