The Pacers will be without a key player for at least a week

The Indiana Pacers have had the best scoring bench in the NBA all season long. Their depth is part of the reason why their offense is so special. Despite having such a high-scoring bench, they really only have two guys who can create their own shot in that second unit.

T.J. McConnell is one of those guys. As the point guard, he looks to get everyone involved first. That doesn't mean that he won't go right by a defender for a layup or a stop-and-pop jumper from ten feet. he controls the pace of the game when he is on the court.

The other guy is Bennedict Mathurin. Mathurin is the sixth man for the Pacers. He's the guy on the team who can hit tough shots. If the shot clock is low and the defense is contesting the shot hard, he's the guy you want to have the ball. He can make those kinds of shots.

Indiana was without him for the Minnesota game on Thursday night and it really hurt them. They could have used his scoring punch off the bench in the first half when they went cold. He missed the game with a shoulder injury and now the injury is worse than we thought.

Bennedict Mathurin out for at least the next three games for the Indiana Pacers

Mathurin is suffering from a right shoulder sprain. This is concerning because that's his shooting arm. He will miss at least the next three games and will be re-evaluated afterward. This is not good news for the Pacers because they have been struggling coming out of the All-Star break.

With Mathurin out, Jarace Walker will have to step up and take some of those minutes. He played 16 minutes against the Wolves and had five points, five rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Every time he plays he shows flashes of why the Pacers took him in the Draft 8th overall.

As long as Mathurin and McDermott are both out, Walker will have to produce off the bench. At the very least, he can't hurt the Pacers while he's out there. In the meantime, we wish Mathurin a speedy recovery.