Bad news keeps piling up for the NBA runners-up. As if the absences of Tyrese Haliburton and T.J. McConnell weren’t already a major blow for the Indiana Pacers, the team has now lost Bennedict Mathurin and Obi Toppin — two more key contributors.
Mathurin has suffered a sprain in his right big toe and will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis.
Toppin’s situation is more serious: the power forward has a hamstring strain that is expected to sideline him for at least a month.
Rick Carlisle’s squad can’t seem to catch a break. On opening night, the franchise already lost Andrew Nembhard to a left shoulder strain, leaving the team short-handed — and the early results show it (0–3).
With all the injuries combined, the Pacers now have only eight available players for their upcoming game against the Dallas Mavericks.
The 0–3 start is striking for a team that just reached the NBA Finals, though it’s worth noting that Indiana began the 2015–16 and 2019–20 seasons the same way and still made the playoffs. This time, however, the injury situation is far more severe.