The Indiana Pacers will host the Charlotte Hornets in the play-in tournament on Tuesday night, but they're in a tough spot given their extensive injury report. Caris LeVert was just the latest member of the Pacers to be ruled out due to the NBA's health and safety protocols.
There are a number of other key players either out or in danger of not playing:
Injury Report:
Brogdon – Questionable (right hamstring)
A. Holiday – Questionable (right toe)
Lamb – Out (left knee)
LeVert – Out (health & safety protocols)
Sabonis – Questionable (left quad)
Sumner – Questionable (left knee)
Turner – Out (right toe)
Warren – Out (left foot)— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) May 18, 2021
That's the Pacers' entire starting lineup either out or questionable for this must-win game. T.J. Warren only played four games in the regular season and won't play in the playoffs. Myles Turner and Jeremy Lamb have been out for a month, while Malcolm Brogdon has missed the last couple of weeks. Domantas Sabonis has been dealing with some nicks and recently missed some time.
Indiana is really hoping Brogdon and Sabonis will be able to go. Brogdon would obviously be a bit rusty after his layoff, but just having him out there at all should help given all the other injuries. The Pacers badly need Sabonis on the court given he's their best player and just averaged a triple-double in May.
The Hornets will be without Gordon Hayward still, but their injury report is mostly clean outside of that. Charlotte had been hit hard by health issues down the stretch of the season, only to get most of the roster back in time for this play-in game.
The Pacers will need a lot of different players to step up in order to get this win. The victor of this play-in game will play the loser of the 7/8 play-in game between the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards. The loser goes home and gets put in the NBA Draft Lottery … which could honestly be the better option at this point for Indiana.
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