Early season obstacles have forced the Indiana Pacers to turn to their end-of-bench players, but what was once seen as an overwhelming negative has had a couple of positives.<\/p>\n
2020 No. 14 pick Aaron Nesmith<\/a>, their best 3-and-D wing, will hopefully be back in by January after suffering a severe ankle sprain at the beginning of the month. Because of how well he plays the role, 2023 No. 26 pick Ben Sheppard<\/a> was shepherded into the starting lineup in his absence. However, it wasn\u2019t Sheppard whose opportunities increased, but 2022 No. 6 pick Bennedict Mathurin<\/a>.<\/p>\n Since Nesmith\u2019s injury on Nov. 1, Mathurin has averaged 19.3 points and 7.8 rebounds in 34.3 minutes per game. For reference, he was posting 15.8 points and 4.6 rebounds in 25.8 minutes per game in the games leading up to Nov. 1. Part of the reason why Mathurin has seen an uptick in minutes is the energy that he\u2019s played with<\/a>. While his first nature may always be to score, using that bulldog spirit to impact the game in myriad ways is now second nature to him.<\/p>\n Mathurin isn\u2019t the Pacers\u2019 only perimeter player who has evolved though.<\/p>\n After straining his left oblique in mid-November, Sheppard is expected to be out for multiple weeks. The 23-year-old has already missed five games, and that number could balloon by the end of the calendar year. Fortunately for Indiana, third-year guard Quenton Jackson<\/a> was ready to step up.<\/p>\n Because Sheppard was starting in place of Nesmith, Jackson has been with the Pacers\u2019 first unit for four games. In the contest that Sheppard was out with his oblique injury and he didn\u2019t start, the 26-year-old played 19 minutes off the bench. In that stretch, he\u2019s averaged 10.8 points and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 55.3 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from three-point range.<\/p>\n \u201cQuenton Jackson is an example of flying around all over the place. Playing at a ridiculously high level of intensity and unselfishness.\u201d<\/p>\n in his first career NBA start, Quenton Jackson dropped a career-high 24 points (10-12 FG), 3 assists, 2 steals & 2 rebounds \ud83d\udcaa pic.twitter.com\/gUBAWkaefC<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) November 21, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\nPacers Faced With Quenton Jackson Contract Question<\/h2>\n
Emergency Emergence<\/h3>\n
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