During the Indiana Pacers' matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night, starting small forward Aaron Nesmith suffered a left ankle sprain after 10 minutes of action in the first half. According to the Pacers' official X account, Nesmith has officially been ruled out for the remainder of the contest.
Aaron Nesmith will not return tonight. https://t.co/TyKwa88qFw
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) November 2, 2024
At the time of his departure, Nesmith scored 12 points on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting night. Furthermore, he recorded one rebound and an assist. In his absence, the Pacers will likely rely more heavily on players like Obi Toppin and Ben Sheppard.
Aaron Nesmith forced to leave game vs. Pelicans due to ankle injury
Heading into the game, the Pacers were already without Andrew Nembhard, who is dealing with a knee injury. On the plus side, they got Myles Turner back after he missed Wednesday night's overtime victory over the Boston Celtics. However, for a team still finding its rhythm, injuries are the last thing the Pacers want to deal with.
Given how fresh the injury is, it is way too soon to determine the severity of it. Regardless, it will be difficult for the Pacers to make up for Nesmith's absence if he is forced to miss significant time.
The Vanderbilt alum is the team's most essential perimeter defender, especially on the wing. Because this is an area where the Pacers are heavily lacking as is, losing Nesmith is going to make their perimeter defense even worse, which is far from ideal. Regardless, with how young the 2024-25 season is, it would make sense for the Pacers to not rush anything and give Nesmith enough time to fully recover.
To begin the season, Nesmith has been solid for the Pacers. Through the first five games, he is averaging 8.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1 assist. Though his scoring numbers are down, Nesmith has shot the ball efficiently so far this season, especially from the perimeter, shooting 44.4% from the three-point line. While this is a small sample size, it would be a career-high for Nesmith.
The Pacers' next game is on Monday on the road against the reigning Western Conference champions, the Dallas Mavericks. Dallas is 3-2 to begin the season and is looking like a legitimate title contender again. Regardless of Nesmith's status, this will be a difficult test for the Pacers as they aim to continue building momentum nearly two weeks into the new NBA campaign.