Would you like to play guard for the Indiana Pacers? There may be an opening! Just call Kevin Pritchard or Chad Buchanan to inquire about the opportunity. Please include your resume, a cover letter, and a list of at least three references who have seen you play basketball in the last 365 days.
After Saturday’s 128-103 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, Indiana had EIGHT guards unavailable to play. The injuries meant the available players for Sunday’s matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves were barely in double-digits, though they did get Quenton Jackson back for the latter part of the back-to-back.
Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, T.J. McConnell, Kam Jones, Quenton Jackson, Bennedict Mathurin, Johnny Furphy, and Taelon Peter are all currently out with injuries for the Pacers.
— Tony East (@TonyREast) October 26, 2025
Ben Sheppard, Aaron Nesmith, and RayJ Dennis were the only ones listed as healthy, though Sheppard would need some minor dental work done as he had a tooth chipped during the game in Memphis.
To no one’s surprise, that diminishing depth showed up on the scoreboard. Perhaps the Grizzlies were simply the better team, but it seemed like the most devastating scoring runs came as coach Rick Carlisle went deeper into the rotations. That, of course, only got worse after Bennedict Mathurin and Taelon Peter were unable to return from their injuries.
The only bright spot of Saturday’s contest was the continued dominance of Mathurin’s offense. The Canadian guard was shooting 66.7% and scored 26 points in his 28 minutes of play before his injury. His drives to the basket remained fruitful with either buckets or fouls. He was 8 of 9 from the foul line.
Through less than two games, Mathurin is one of the most efficient isolation scorers in the league — 1.64 points per possession — and 7th in the NBA after Saturday night’s games. Pascal Siakam is the only other Pacer registering enough possessions to qualify for NBA.com’s stats, but he’s near the bottom of the league so far. In comparison, he was in the 83rd percentile last year with his isolation possessions.
Mathurin wasn’t nearly as efficient last year, but he wasn’t in the same role as he has been so far this year. Last year, he was the sixth man, serving as either a complementary player to the starters (effectively as Aaron Nesmith’s backup, who served more in the 3-and-D prototype) or as what might have been the lone scoring threat in some bench lineups.
Thrown to the Wolves
When Jay Huff starts at power forward and Isaiah Jackson at center, it’s a sign of where the Pacers were as far as healthy players.
Indiana traded blows with Minnesota in the first half, with Pascal leading the way. That included a cheeky pit of play before the half to keep things even at intermission.
Another bright spot was a barrage of 3-pointers from Aaron Nesmith. His 5 of 12 (41.7%) night helped keep Indiana afloat with 18 points. He was joined in double-digits on the night with 12 from both RayJ Dennis and Tony Bradley.
Siakam led Indiana’s overall scoring effort with 32 points on an 11 of 24 night from the field, buoyed by a 3 of 6 performance from beyond the arc and an 8 of 12 night at the free throw line. He flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 10 rebounds and 8 assists.
But ultimately, the lack of depth, despite the Timberwolves losing Anthony Edwards, proved to be too much for Indiana to handle. Too many disjointed lineups, too much reliance on isolation plays for Siakam, and too many points from Minnesota proved too much, winning 114-110.
Pascal Siakam is doing everything. That's still not enough for the Pacers to keep up.
— Tony East (@TonyREast) October 27, 2025
There wasn’t a grand takeaway from what happened in the game, perhaps only what didn’t happen. It’s October, and the Pacers are missing half their roster. Whatever the Pacers are going to be this season, one hopes it isn’t a team with a handful of healthy guards and wings to send out each night.
A game like this gets chalked up to a planned loss with being a tail end of a road-back-to-back, much less with all the injuries Indiana had.
Looking ahead
The Pacers are now 0-3, and the injury news for Indiana is abundant after the weekend back-to-back.
Per Rick Carlisle, Bennedict Mathurin will have imaging on his right foot done tomorrow in Dallas and he is wearing a walking boot right now.
— Dustin Dopirak (@DustinDopirak) October 26, 2025
And somehow it got worse injury-wise during the Timberwolves game.
Obi Toppin has right leg soreness and won't return tonight, per boradcast.
— Tony East (@TonyREast) October 27, 2025
In addition to the obvious absence of Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana will miss Mathurin, Andrew Nembhard, and T.J. McConnell for the foreseeable future, and possibly more of their rotation.
So if you’re into these disjointed lineups, then this week will give you more of that. Indiana has a break until their Wednesday matchup with the Dallas Mavericks. Friday sees them in their first NBA Cup group stage game with a home date with the Atlanta Hawks. The Golden State Warriors will be the second half of that back-to-back on Saturday.
Hopefully, there will be some healthy guards on the roster going into next week.
All the point guards
Take care, Nembhard
I'll take TJ
To fix, his hamstring
Tyrese, I know
You’re stuck, in front row
Watching, waiting
Commiserating
Say it ain't so, Q cannot go
Who’s playing guard on the road?
Na na na na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na na na na https://t.co/7Yz8WKqvCR
— iPacers.com (@iPacersblog) October 24, 2025
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