{"id":76647,"date":"2025-06-04T17:19:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T17:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/76647\/"},"modified":"2025-06-04T17:19:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T17:19:10","slug":"what-to-know-about-indiana-pacers-ben-sheppard-former-belmont-star-in-2025-nba-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/76647\/","title":{"rendered":"What to know about Indiana Pacers&#8217; Ben Sheppard, former Belmont star in 2025 NBA Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/basketball\/nba\/teams\/indiana-pacers\/11\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Indiana Pacers;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Indiana Pacers<\/a> are set to face the <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/basketball\/nba\/teams\/oklahoma-city-thunder\/25\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Oklahoma City Thunder;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nba\/2025\/05\/31\/thunder-pacers-predictions-odds-nba-finals-series\/83965638007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:in the NBA Finals;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">in the NBA Finals<\/a> on June 4 (7:30 p.m. CT; ABC) after beating the <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/basketball\/nba\/teams\/new-york-knicks\/18\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:New York Knicks;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">New York Knicks<\/a> in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals.<\/p>\n<p>While star players Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam share most of the spotlight, former <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/where-belmont-university-meet-minnesotas-100526501.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Belmont Bruins;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Belmont Bruins<\/a> guard Ben Sheppard has carved out his own role on the Pacers in the 2024-25 season.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Sheppard, 23, is in his second year with the Pacers after being drafted at No. 26 overall in 2023. Coming off the bench as a shooting guard, Sheppard averaged 5.3 points and 1.3 assists in 19.5 minutes per game during the regular season.<\/p>\n<p>In the playoffs, he&#8217;s averaged 3.4 points and 14 minutes per game, with his best performance coming in the Pacers&#8217; Game 4 win over the <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/basketball\/nba\/teams\/cleveland-cavaliers\/5\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Cleveland Cavaliers;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> in the Eastern Conference semifinals, when he scored 14 points and added three rebounds in 29 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>In the Pacers&#8217; series-clinching 125-108 win over the Knicks in Game 6, Sheppard played nearly the entire fourth quarter, adding two rebounds and three assists.<\/p>\n<p>What to know about former Belmont star Ben Sheppard, shooting guard for <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/basketball\/nba\/teams\/indiana-pacers\/11\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Indiana Pacers;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Indiana Pacers<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sheppard was a four-year player for Belmont (2019-2023), signing with the Bruins after a successful high school career at Greater Atlanta Christian in Norcross, Georgia. The 6-foot-6 guard was an excellent shooter from distance with the Bruins, posting a .415 3-point shooting percentage as a senior.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Sheppard finished with 1,516 points, 485 rebounds, 225 assists, and 126 steals in four years with the Bruins.<\/p>\n<p>After being drafted in 2023 by the Pacers, Sheppard spent most of his rookie season in a limited role before seeing that role expand this past season. Sheppard is typically one of the first off-the-bench players for the Pacers, usually replacing starting shooting guard Andrew Nembhard.<\/p>\n<p>Sheppard is in the second year of a rookie contract he signed in 2023. The Pacers exercised the club option for the 2025-26 season, keeping him in Indiana at least through next NBA season.<\/p>\n<p>The Pacers are looking to win their first NBA championship. They last appeared in the NBA finals in 2000 when they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">PREDICTIONS: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nba\/2025\/05\/31\/thunder-pacers-predictions-odds-nba-finals-series\/83965638007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Indiana Pacers: Predictions, picks, odds for NBA Finals;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Indiana Pacers: Predictions, picks, odds for NBA Finals<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/mailto:jdaugherty@gannett.com\" data-ylk=\"slk:jdaugherty@gannett.com;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">jdaugherty@gannett.com<\/a>. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AlexDaugherty1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:@alexdaugherty1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">@alexdaugherty1<\/a>.\u00a0Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tennessean_preds\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:@tennessean_preds;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">@tennessean_preds<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennessean.com\/story\/sports\/college\/2025\/06\/04\/ben-sheppard-indiana-pacers-nba-finals-belmont-basketball\/84027187007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Indiana Pacers in 2025 NBA Finals: Ben Sheppard is former Belmont star;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Indiana Pacers in 2025 NBA Finals: Ben Sheppard is former Belmont star<\/a><\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Indiana Pacers are set to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals on June 4&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76648,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3774],"tags":[1784,7,8120,642,193,2955,113,126,3866,150,6,1220,191,179,114,279,8759,278],"class_list":{"0":"post-76647","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-indiana-pacers","8":"tag-andrew-nembhard","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-belmont-bruins","11":"tag-ben-sheppard","12":"tag-cleveland-cavaliers","13":"tag-eastern-conference-finals","14":"tag-indiana","15":"tag-indiana-pacers","16":"tag-indianapacers","17":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","18":"tag-nba","19":"tag-nba-finals","20":"tag-new-york-knicks","21":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","22":"tag-pacers","23":"tag-pascal-siakam","24":"tag-shooting-guard","25":"tag-tyrese-haliburton"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114626243062571948","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}