Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner among four key Pacers out with injury
DETROIT -- Pacers All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, starting center Myles Turner and backup point guard T.J. McConnell joined rookie wing Bennedict Mathurin on the list of Pacers out for Saturday's game against the Pistons at LIttle Caesars Arena, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said in pre-game.
Mathurin, the second-leading scorer among all NBA rookies with 16.6 points per game, sprained his right ankle in Thursday's game against Houston and was carried off the floor. Carlisle said after the game he didn't expect Mathurin to play Saturday or Monday, but he didn't offer a timeline for his return Saturday.
Haliburton is out with a bruised left knee, Carlisle said. He injured the knee Thursday when he took a spill on a drive at the end of regulation. The ball slipped out of his hand and he slammed into a Rockets defender and hit the floor, but a foul was not called. Turner has a sore lower back, and McConnell also has a sore back.
"Those guys are all banged up," Carlisle said. ".... Myles' back has been bothering him on and off. T.J. has always got an ailment. It's just time for him to sit a game."
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Haliburton played through the knee injury in the Pacers' overtime win over the Rockets on Thursday and scored 12 of his 29 points after the injury. He also finished with a career-high 19 assists. Haliburton leads the Pacers with 20.8 points per game and ranks second in the NBA with 10.4 assists per game. The Pacers are 2-11 in the 13 previous games he's missed with injury this season.
Turner averages 18.0 points and leads the Pacers with 7.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game, the best statistical season of his career. The 30-year-old McConnell averages 7.8 points per game on 52.7% shooting off the bench and is second to Haliburton with 5.0 assists per game.
With Haliburton and McConnell out, rookie Andrew Nembhard will start at point guard. Their injuries led Chris Duarte being added to the starting lineup. George Hill should also be part of the rotation. Hill has appeared in just two games since being acquired from the Bucks as part of a four-team trade on Feb. 9, but the Pacers will certainly need minutes from him.
Turner's injury means Jalen Smith or Isaiah Jackson will play more, and both will be needed to fill the minutes at center. Smith averages 9.0 points and 5.6 rebounds per game and has started 28 games this season, mostly at power forward. Jackson is averaging 6.5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. Jackson, a Michigan native, gets the start.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers vs. Pistons: Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner are out
