Rick Carlisle provides Andrew Nembhard injury update

On Wednesday night, the Indiana Pacers earned their second win of the season. After defeating the reigning champion Boston Celtics in an Eastern Conference Finals to hand them their first loss of the season, the Pacers are now 2-3 and have a lot of momentum going into their game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday.

There were a lot of positive takeaways and impressive performances in the game. The most notable one was Bennedict Mathurin, who played nearly 43 minutes off the bench and scored a team-high 30 points on 9-for-17 shooting. While Mathurin's performance was great, it came at a cost.

Mathurin received more playing time because Andrew Nembhard, who started the game at shooting guard, only played five minutes the entire game and scored two points. After the game, head coach Rick Carlisle revealed that Nembhard is dealing with an injury that could keep him out for future games.

Rick Carlisle says that Andrew Nembhard is dealing with tendinitis

In the press conference after the win, Carlisle spoke about why Nembhard only played five minutes in the game. Carlisle revealed that the Canadian native has "been dealing with some tendinitis" and was seemingly a game-time decision despite not appearing on the team's injury report.

"He's been dealing with some tendinitis," Carlisle said. "We went back and forth a little bit and then the anthem started and I asked him again after the anthem. He said he felt a little better and he wanted to give it a shot and he was fine up until right before the game."

"It was pretty clear to me he wasn't moving well enough so we got him out of there," Carlisle said. "He got treatment and he was ruled out from there."

It is unknown if this will impact Nembhard's availability for future games. However, it seems to be bad enough for the team to give him most of the night off against Boston. Assuming the Pacers will move forward without Nembhard for the foreseeable future, it is safe to assume Mathurin will get another opportunity to showcase his value in the lineup.

For much of the young season, Pacers fans have clamored for Mathurin to receive a larger role, whether as a sixth man or in the starting lineup. The third-year wing offers explosive offense and has improved at every other aspect of the game since joining the NBA. It is clear that he deserves more playing time in Indiana, and Wednesday night's performance may be what earns him a larger role.

In addition to Mathurin, players like Ben Sheppard and potentially Johnny Furphy (when he returns to action) could receive more minutes as well.