UPDATE: Pacers acting head coach Lloyd Pierce said in his pre-game press conference that Ben Sheppard is out. Forwards Jarace Walker and Kobe Brown are both game-time decisions.
INDIANAPOLIS — The Pacers won’t see Joel Embiid in Friday’s 7:30 p.m. home game against the 76ers, but they will yet again be missing at least seven players including their top three scorers this season.
Embiid — a seven-time All-Star, five-time All-NBA pick and 2022-23 MVP — had an appendectomy Thursday and is out indefinitely for a 76ers team fighting for postseason seeding. Embiid is averaging 26.9 points per game this season but has appeared in just 38 games due to several injuries.
However, the Pacers are missing All-Star forward Pascal Siakam (left ankle sprain) forward Aaron Nesmith (cervical strain), point guard Andrew Nembhard (thoracic and lumbar injury management) and point guard T.J. McConnell (bilateral hamstring injury management). All four have missed several games as the season winds to an end. Siakam leads the team in scoring with 24.0 points per game. Nembhard is second on the team in scoring with 16.9 points per game and leads the team in assists with 7.7 per game. Nesmith is third on the team in scoring with 13.8 points per game and McConnell averages 9.4 points per game and is second on the team with 5.1 assists per game.
Forwards Jarace Walker (sacral contusion) and Kobe Brown (lumbar sprain) and guard Ben Sheppard (right hip sprain) are all listed as questionable. Walker played in Thursday’s win over the Nets, but Brown and Sheppard did not.
All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton (Achilles tendon tear), center Ivica Zubac (fractured rib), and forward Johnny Furphy (ACL tear) are all out for the season with longer term injuries.
The Pacers enter Friday’s game with the second-worst record in the NBA at 19-61.
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 without top 3 scorers, 76ers superstar out for Friday’s game
Reporting by Dustin Dopirak, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
