Obi Toppin, TJ McConnell and more

by Junna Base November 11, 2024

The Indiana Pacers are looking to bounce back from their tough loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night against the New York Knicks. Indiana played the Knicks in their home opener in New York on October 25th. The Pacers lost 123-98, which was their first loss of the season.

Heading into today’s matchup, the Pacers are 4-5 and looking to return to .500. The Knicks, on the other hand, are 4-4. There will be no direct duel between the two teams for the rest of the calendar year; the next duel will take place on February 11th. Indiana wants to even the season series at home.

Here is the full injury report for both teams.

After missing the team’s loss to the Hornets, he was a backup point guard TJ McConnell is classified as a concern due to a non-COVID illness. If he can’t play, the Pacers will rely more heavily on Ben Sheppard and possibly Quenton Jackson, who played just under 20 minutes against Charlotte.

Andrew Nembhardwho also missed Indiana’s loss to Charlotte, is listed as questionable due to the knee injury he has been dealing with for several games. Nembhard has already missed two games due to injury. It wouldn’t be a surprise for the Pacers to keep him out again for safety reasons.

The Pacers will officially not have a starting small forward Aaron Nesmith for the fourth time in a row. Bennedict Mathurin has taken on a larger role and has made the most of it so far. At least until Nesmith’s return, he’ll likely continue to make big plays.

Backup forward Obi Toppin is a new addition to the Pacers’ injury report due to an ankle injury. Toppin is considered questionable and is in danger of missing tonight’s fight against his former team. The Pacers will likely give Jarace Walker and Enrique Freeman more minutes if Toppin can’t go. Additionally, rookie Johnny Furphy, who played four minutes against the Hornets, was able to see his number called a few more times.

On the Knicks side, they will once again have to make do without big men Precious Achiuwa And Mitchell Robinsonwho missed every team game at the start of the season.

Cameron Paynewho is dealing with a hamstring injury, has missed each of the Knicks’ last three games and could miss today’s game as well. Aside from that, Miles McBridewho is in the midst of a breakout campaign is listed as questionable. McBride has played every game for the Knicks so far.