Pacers Have To Be Creative Amid Guard Injuries, Opener Showed They Can

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Pacers entered opening night already limited due to injury. With the Oklahoma City Thunder in town for an NBA Finals rematch, revenge was front of mind for the blue and gold. But star guard Tyrese Haliburton was unavailable – his season is over. That absence was expected, the Pacers could plan for it.

But they couldn’t plan for others. T.J. McConnell, who was projected to open the season as the team’s backup point guard, went down with an injury during Indiana’s first preseason game. Quenton Jackson suffered the same injury fate in the second exhibition. Along the way during training camp, reserves Delon Wright and Cam Payne were both inadequate on the court and were waived.

All of that, combined with rookie Kam Jones sitting out with a back injury, made the blue and gold extremely thin at point guard entering the season. Jones, Jackson, McConnell, and Haliburton were all sidelined. Andrew Nembhard and RayJ Dennis, the latter of whom is on a two-way contract, were the only healthy nominal point guards.

There was already a lot to put on Nembhard, and in the preseason Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle turned to some unconventional options at backup point guard. Rookie Taelon Peter as well as guard/wing Ben Sheppard worked together to guide second units. Jarace Walker was given chances to create against zone defenses. Indiana tried to initiate with wings, but only in certain circumstances.

“They’re doing fine,” Carlisle said late in training camp of Peter and Sheppard filling in with some point guard duties. “We have options. It’s just they’re not the most conventional at this moment. But that’s alright, these guys are working hard at it and they’re smart guys. They’ll do their best to play to their strengths.”

During Indiana’s season opener against the Thunder, their time spent in the preseason establishing Peter as a second unit point guard paid off. He and Obi Toppin were the first reserves to check into the game, and Peter looked like he belonged. Despite being a rookie in a new role against the defending champs, he gave the Pacers good minutes. “The one way you don’t want to be is nervous and thinking of every mistake you could make. I was definitely thinking of every single mistake that was out there for me to make,” Peter shared of his emotions in the days leading up to his first game. On Thursday, though, he calmed down. “Going into the game, just thinking ‘what an opportunity that I have to get some minutes and prove that I belong’,” he explained.

Even while banged up, the Pacers had a working plan. Nembhard started and was in line for heavy minutes, then Peter and a combination of other ball handlers picked up the slack elsewhere. It was fine as a strategy – Indiana led for much of the first 16 minutes of the game.

But something was up. Nembhard missed a shot with 11:45 to go in the second quarter and didn’t attempt a field goal for the rest of the half. He was constantly stretching and rotating his left shoulder, movements that were later discovered to be a reaction to pain – his arm got caught in Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s body just three minutes into the action. Nembhard instantly showed some signs of discomfort.

What happened to Andrew Nembhard in the Pacers season opener?

As halftime ended, Nembhard wasn’t on the court. He didn’t warm up. Sheppard started the second half in his place, and the Pacers ruled Nembhard out for the night moments later with a shoulder injury.

Suddenly, the Pacers were basically out of point guards. Haliburton, Nembhard, McConnell, Jones, and Jackson were all injured at the same time. While Dennis is naturally a floor general and distributor, he is very inexperienced with just 70 total NBA minutes under his belt. Instead, Carlisle opted for creative lineups the rest of the way. He chose, to use his words, unconventional options.

Bennedict Mathurin, typically considered a two guard, shared the backcourt with Sheppard. Those two could pass and probe into the paint just enough to keep Indiana’s offense humming – especially when paired with star-level play from forward Pascal Siakam. Off the bench, Walker and Peter were the initiators.

None of those players are known for their passing or ability to organize a team. Walker has some reps playing point guard at lower levels, and Siakam has been a solid shot creator at times throughout this career. None of them are natural ones, though, and they all had essentially zero experience playing that role in the NBA.

But together, and when combined with some ball handling pop from Aaron Nesmith and Obi Toppin, the Pacers found workable combinations. They outscored Oklahoma City 31-27 in the third quarter as they pushed back into the game, then showed a high level offense again in the final period.

Mathurin and Siakam were leading it all. Those two combined for 44 of the team’s 105 shot attempts in the game and finished with over half of Indiana’s points. Several possessions started, and ended, with one of those two players screening for the other in order to create a shot.

It was, by far, the most they’d ever worked together in two-man actions since becoming teammates in early 2024. “It’s the first time we’ve ever done it. We invented it in the second half during a timeout. We’re going to have to be inventive on a lot of things,” Carlisle said of those two working together.

Inventive, indeed. They were terrific. But they couldn’t play every minute of the game or initiate every set. Peter, Sheppard, and Walker filled in ably as the Pacers created shots with their bigger wings throughout the second half.

It was somewhat successful, and Indiana pushed the game to overtime. After an 11-11 bonus frame, the game went to another extra period. That’s when Mathurin and Sheppard fouled out. Nesmith had done so earlier, being disqualified in the fourth quarter. With those three on the bench alongside many injured point guards, the Pacers just didn’t have enough offensive power remaining. They couldn’t make up for what they were missing.

The Thunder won the game 141-135. For the final 60 seconds of play, the Pacers were without Haliburton, Nembhard, Nesmith, McConnell, Mathurin, Sheppard, Jones, and Jackson. They didn’t have enough offensive weapons for their play style to thrive.

Yet they nearly won the game, and their creativity gave them a chance. The team’s most used lineup featured Siakam, Toppin, Walker, Mathurin, and Sheppard. That unit outscored OKC by one in 11:28 of play. Carlisle deployed seven lineups for more than three minutes during the action, and only two of them had Nembhard in the mix. The other five didn’t contain a natural point guard.

Those seven lineups linked up to beat the Thunder by four points in their combined minutes. The Pacers were ultimately done in by poor frontcourt play and undisciplined defense, but Carlisle was able to find units that had synergy and could keep up with the champs.

“We keep losing guards, so I think as a team it’s going to be hard,” Siakam said postgame. “We have some big wings that can do things. And I think all the guards that didn’t really have ball handling responsibilities are going to do that.”

The Pacers next play on Saturday when they visit the Memphis Grizzlies. The team already announced via an injury report that Nembhard won’t play due to a left shoulder strain. Young wing Johnny Furphy has been added to the injury report, too.

“This thing with [Andrew’s] shoulder, we’re going to find out more tomorrow. He’s going to get some tests done. But this is going to present some big challenges,” Carlisle said after the loss vs OKC.

With Nembhard sidelined too, finding the right combinations to keep the team humming will be a difficult task. No individual had more than four assists for the blue and gold in their opening night loss. Without Nembhard, and without almost every other point guard, multiple players will be in new roles.

They all stepped up on opening night and showed they can fill in capably, at least in some outings. But for the Pacers to be successful with this many injuries, they’re going to have to be creative. From lineups to inventive strategies, expect Pacers players and coaches to show off their artistic side in the coming games.