Myles Turner, Aaron Nesmith join Tyrese Haliburton on list of Pacers out Friday
INDIANAPOLIS -- Pacers center Myles Turner (back spasms) and wing Aaron Nesmith (non-COVID illness) will miss Friday night's game against the Atlanta Hawks at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, joining point guard Tyrese Haliburton on the list of players ruled out.
Turner and Nesmith also missed Wednesday's game against the Knicks in New York. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said Turner's back locked up just before the game and that he's been dealing with treatment since. He said he doesn't expect the injury to be a long-term problem, but said it's unlikely he'll be available for Saturday's game against the Memphis Grizzlies.
"It will be days, not hours, how about that?" Carlisle said. "There's no concern that this will be anything but a minor thing. Tomorrow is maybe a reach. The guy goes through this. He's laying on the floor in the locker room then he's gotta schlepp on a bus and go get on a plane, then he's laying on the floor of an airplane. I went and saw him yesterday morning at the doctor's office and he's sitting in an MRI tube for 45 minutes. I mean, this is not fun stuff when you have a back thing flare up. But he was better yesterday, he's doing better today. He did a little bit of shooting this afternoon. But I don't know. I think tomorrow is going to be a tough ask. Next week is more likely, but we'll see."
Turner is averaging career highs in scoring with 17.0 points per game and rebounding with 7.9 rebounds per game. Nesmith is averaging 9.7 points and 3.8 rebounds per game and has become one of the Pacers' best defenders and arguably the player most reliable for producing hustle plays.
Haliburton was injured in the third quarter of Wednesday's game, suffering a bone contusion in his left knee and a sprained left elbow. The Pacers put out a release Thursday saying Haliburton will miss at least two weeks before he is re-evaluated.
Rookie Andrew Nembhard will likely slide over to play point guard to take Haliburton's spot, just as he did in early December when Haliburton missed two games with a sore groin. Just before the game, the Pacers announced wings Bennedict Mathurin and Chris Duarte would move up into the starting lineup Friday night and forward Isaiah Jackson would be the Pacers' starting center.
Carlisle said Brissett, who missed Wednesday's game with a sore hamstring, will be available.
Nembhard's performance in early December gives the Pacers reason to have confidence in his return to the point guard spot. He posted 16 points and eight assists in the loss to Portland on Dec. 4, then went off for 31 points and 13 assists in a stunning win over the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco the next night.
"How can you not have confidence in this guy with everything he's done?" Carlisle said. "I'm more concerned about fouls, to be honest with you. This will be a learning experience for Drew because he'll step into more point guard minutes, whether he starts or comes off the bench."
That's just fine for Nembhard, as shooting guard is very much his secondary position. He's been a point guard his whole life, playing there in college at Florida and Gonzaga and throughout his high school days and before. There's still and adjustment to be the guy calling plays and directing traffic for this team when he hasn't been doing it as much, but he has plenty of muscle memory for it.
"The biggest thing between playing on and off for me is just understanding when I'm on-ball I have to direct more, set-up more," Nembhard said. "Just understanding and kind of controlling, looking at the whole game plan from a game-management perspective. That's how it will be different. The ball is in my hands a little bit more. ... My whole life I've played point guard. That's the most comfortable I feel out there."
The Pacers also called up guard Trevelin Queen from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants for the game. Queen appeared in both of the previous games Haliburton missed but did not score.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers vs. Hawks: Myles Turner, Aaron Nesmith ruled out
