Pacers wing Johnny Furphy has suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee after landing awkwardly following a dunk in Sunday’s game against the Raptors.
League sources confirmed the injury to the IndyStar just before the Pacers confirmed the injury on social media, saying Furphy had an MRI in New York on Monday that confirmed the tear. Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype reported the injury first. The Pacers did not immediately release a timetable for his return but such injuries tend to require 6-12 months of recovery, meaning Furphy’s season is almost assuredly over.
Furphy is averaging 5.1 points and 4.4 rebounds per game this season and has started 21 of 35 games. Furphy, a native of Australia, played one season at Kansas and then was drafted by the Pacers in the second round of the 2024 draft. Though the baby-faced 21-year-old was drafted in large part because of his abilities as an outside shooter, he’s earned his time on the court with toughness on defense and the glass. The 6-8, 200-pounder is third among Pacers players who have appeared in at least 30 games this season with 8.6 rebounds per 36 minutes. He’s shooting 47% from the floor — 60.3% on 2-point shots and 32.4% on 3-pointers for an effective field goal percentage of .547.
The Pacers have been ravaged by injuries all season going back to All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton’s Achilles tendon tear in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. They were hit particularly hard by injuries in the first few games of the season with point guards Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell, wings Aaron Nesmith and Bennedict Mathurin, forward Obi Toppin and center Isaiah Jackson all missing significant time and even Furphy missed several weeks with a sprained ankle.
The Pacers have worked their way through most of those injuries and prior to Furphy’s injury Haliburton and Toppin are the only players who are still out. However, Mathurin and Jackson were recently traded to the Clippers for center Ivica Zubac and Kobe Brown, neither of whom have played for the Pacers yet. The Pacers had just nine players available Sunday after Furphy left the game.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Johnny Furphy injury update: Pacers get bad news on forward’s knee
Reporting by Dustin Dopirak, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
