Pacers add frontcourt help amid big man injuries
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The Indiana Pacers have struggled with consistency throughout the season, as they haven’t won more than two games partly because of the injury bug that hit a few of their best players. For one, Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith are out with knee and ankle injuries, respectively, while Myles Turner just appeared on their injury report versus the Raptors after a dominant 34-point performance against the Heat on Sunday. As a result, the Pacers signed Moses Brown from the New York Knicks’ G League affiliate for added size and rebounding in the frontcourt.
“The Indiana Pacers are signing 7-foot-2 Moses Brown, sources tell ESPN,” per NBA insider Shams Charania on X, formerly Twitter. “Pacers add a center in the wake of Myles Turner’s injury and Achilles tears to James Wiseman and Isaiah Jackson. Brown enters his sixth NBA season after averaging 19 points and 14 rebounds in G League.”
Pacers need frontcourt help
Signing Moses Brown from the G League is a good stopgap move to address injury absences for the Pacers, particularly to Myles Turner, their defensive anchor.
Standing seven feet, Brown might be serviceable against a feisty Raptors team, also playing without key pieces Immanuel Quickley, Bruce Brown, and Scottie Barnes.
Additionally, this Raptors team had just gone toe-to-toe with the defending champions Boston Celtics, who needed Jayson Tatum to hit a game-winner against them in overtime.
However, the Pacers will still need to find consistency from their existing roster. For instance, Myles Turner had called himself out after their victory over the Jimmy Butler-less Heat because of his subpar play in recent games.
Moreover, Tyrese Haliburton needs to overcome his shooting slump if Indiana wants to return to the Conference Finals, or even go further beyond. As their best player, he needs to average more than 16.2 points and improve his shooting percentage from a dismal 39.3% from the field and 29.4% from deep.
“When I got traded here I helped build a culture,” the point guard said, via Matt Levine of Sports Illustrated. “That’s sacred to me. We’re all a part of it, but especially a guy like me who, when I came here, was a a part of building that and just wanted to keep that. We have a standard that we must meet.”
The bench mob
Meanwhile, players like Obi Toppin should find bigger roles in Turner’s absence, and the team hopes they can produce in a similar way to Bennedict Mathurin, filling in for Nesmith.
In November, Mathurin has averaged 20.9 points and 8.3 rebounds on 51.4% shooting from the field and 46.7% from three-point range.
While it’s still early in the season, playoff contenders like Indiana need to start stacking wins now to avoid seeding issues in March and April.
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