The Indiana Pacers, unfortunately, cannot dodge injuries this season, as the injury bug has resided in Indiana all year. With Tyrese Hailburton and Johnny Furphy already out for the season, other players like Obi Toppin and Aaron Nesmith have also been sidelined for big chunks of time. Not to mention that Ivica Zubac is still nursing his ankle injury and has yet to suit up for the team as well.
Dealing with all of these is trouble in itself for head coach Rick Carlisle, who has done his best with what he has been presented with this season. That said, after the Portland Trail Blazers game last night, we may see two more names added to the list of injured players.
Those two players would be T.J. McConnell and Jarace Walker. McConnell exited the game with a sore hamstring, while Walker ended up tweaking his ankle.
Rick Carlisle on T.J. McConnell’s hamstring and Jarace Walker’s late-game injury: https://t.co/y4ULLNOLc8 pic.twitter.com/hBk5V80NeF
— Tony East (@TonyREast) March 9, 2026
Just going off of Carlisle's response to Forbes' Tony East here shows he is just as deflated as the fans are. Just this snippet from the end here shows the true reality that the Pacers are sadly stuck in, one that they cannot escape this year.
"And look, we're a bit beat up right now, so we will circle the wagons with the medical staff and see what's what," Carlisle said.
The injuries keep piling on for the Pacers
It also doesn't help that these guys get injured right when they do. For McConnell, he has been dealing with this hamstring injury for weeks, popping up on the injury report on occasion. With Carlisle also stating that "there's concern" about this injury, it's not a good look for the veteran guard.
Then you look at Walker, who I just wrote about, being a fun, intriguing young piece for this team. He turns his ankle late and does not return in a game where, even if it was a score-wise out-of-control game, Walker was still impressing in this one and has been as well as of late.
Even if it's a small sample size after the All-Star Break, he is averaging solid stats: 14.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 1 steal per game while shooting 42/35/70. With the team looking to tank, his role continued to grow with no Zubac and Pascal Siakam picking up some DNP's.
Now there is the worry that he could be sidelined as well, which, including McConnell, would leave the team with 1/3 of its players OUT (Furphy, Haliburton, McConnell, Walker, Zubac). That is not even with all the other tactics this team will try to perform to tank. The team could wind up having 7-8 outs some nights.
The worst part, though, is that the Pacers have yet to catch a break in this scenario. Every time they can see some light at the end of the injury tunnel (besides season-ending ones), another always strikes.
They were just lucky enough to get Toppin back after losing him in the third game of the season, and he does not even get 10 games back with his former teammates before they go down. It is just an unfortunate circumstance that the Pacers and many teams across the league have been put into.
It just stings more for this team due to the anticipation they had for the year, even if they knew Haliburton was going to be out. Not many expected them to be this beat up and, because of that, to be in this position in the east. With the playoff hype now behind us, the Pacers look to move forward and fight this out as a unit.