Pacers wing and second-leading scorer Bennedict Mathurin has been ruled out of Sunday’s 3 p.m. game against the Magic in Orlando with a right thumb sprain according to the NBA’s official injury report.
Center Isaiah Jackson is also still out with a concussion suffered Dec. 22 in a game against the Celtics in Boston.
Mathurin is averaging 17.8 points per game, but he finished with just two points on 1 of 6 shooting in Friday’s loss to the Spurs. It was his lowest-scoring game since February of 2024. Though that was the first time he was held to single-digit scoring since Dec. 20, he has struggled during the Pacers’ 11-game losing streak, averaging 13.5 points per game on 36.9% shooting, including 27.1% from the 3-point arc in that stretch.
Mathurin missed 11 games in late October and early November with a right great toe sprain suffered against the Grizzlies in the season’s second game but he has started all 24 games he’s played this season at either shooting guard or small forward. With him out, the Pacers could look at either third-year guard Ben Sheppard or two-way contract guards Ethan Thompson or Quenton Jackson to start at shooting guard. They could also move wing Aaron Nesmith — who recently returned from a left knee sprain — to shooting guard and look at wings Johnny Furphy or Jarace Walker at small forward. Mathurin’s injury could also be an opportunity to get more playing time for rookie guard Kam Jones, who has appeared in six games in limited minutes after returning from an early season back injury.
The Pacers are still missing All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton — out for the season with an Achilles tendon tear — and forward Obi Toppin, who is out until at least February with a stress fracture in his right foot. Toppin is finally out of a walking boot after surgery on the foot early in the season, but his return is nowhere near imminent.