INDIANAPOLIS — On the second night of a back-to-back against another team with one of the six worst records in the NBA and the trade deadline coming up Thursday, the Pacers will be resting five of their top players.
All-Star forward Pascal Siakam, wings Aaron Nesmith and Bennedict Mathurin, and point guards Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell will all be held out of Tuesday night’s 7 p.m. game against the Utah Jazz at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for either rest or injury management purposes according to the NBA’s official injury report. For Siakam and Mathurin, the reason is listed simply as “rest.” Nesmith is listed as out with a left hand strain, though he played 32 minutes in Monday’s loss to the Rockets. Nembhard is listed as out for lower back injury management and McConnell is out with left knee injury management.
The Pacers are in the midst of their most competitive and healthy period in a star-crossed season as they’ve gone 6-6 in their last 12 games including a competitive 118-114 defeat against the Rockets on Monday night. For much of the season’s first two months, they dealt with so many injuries that they had to make use of hardship exceptions to fill out the roster. However, this is a clear sign of the Pacers understanding that they are much closer to getting a top five draft pick than working their way back into postseason contention.
The last time the Pacers sat out all five players was Jan. 17 against the Pistons, which was also on a second night of a back-to-back. Mathurin was already out with a right thumb sprain but Siakam, Nesmith, Nembhard and McConnell were out for rest or injury management reasons. The Pacers lost that game 121-78.
This will be just the third game this season that Siakam has sat out for rest. In the first one the Pacers lost 114-83 to the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco.
This will be the first time the Pacers rest so many key players against a team that does not appear to be playoff bound. The Pacers are 13-37 and sit in last place in the Eastern Conference, but the Jazz are 15-35 and are 13th among the 15 teams in the West, so both teams have reason to be concerned about draft lottery positioning. The Jazz will be sitting center Jusuf Nurkic for rest purposes and will also be without guard Keyonte George (left ankle sprain) and center Walker Kessler (shoulder surgery.) Veteran center Kevin Love is doubtful with an illness.
The Jazz further shook up their roster with a massive trade Tuesday in which they get All-Star center Jaren Jackson Jr., guard Jon Konchar, center Jock Londale and wing Vince Williams Jr. for rookie point guard Walter Clayton Jr., wing Kyle Anderson and forwards Georges Niang and Taylor Hendricks and three future first-round draft picks. It’s not immediately known whether any of the players changing hands will be available on Tuesday night.
Siakam (23.8 points per game), Mathurin (17.8 ppg), Nembhard (17.3 ppg) and Nesmith (13.9 ppg) are the Pacers’ top four scorers and McConnell has continued to be their most reliable player off the bench with 9.5 points per game on 52.6% shooting and 4.8 assists in just 17.1 minutes per game. When the Pacers played the Pistons, they started guards Quenton Jackson and Ben Sheppard, forwards Johnny Furphy and Jarace Walker and center Jay Huff and could go with a similar lineup on Tuesday.
Center Micah Potter is also listed as questionable with a hip contusion. All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton has been out all season as he works his way back from an Achilles tendon tear and forward Obi Toppin has been out since October with a stress fracture in his right foot.
Dustin Dopirak covers the Pacers all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Pacers Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers rest 5 top players with lottery position on the line vs Jazz
Reporting by Dustin Dopirak, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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