{"id":66923,"date":"2024-03-09T17:29:01","date_gmt":"2024-03-09T22:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=66923"},"modified":"2024-03-09T17:29:01","modified_gmt":"2024-03-09T22:29:01","slug":"indiana-pacers-lose-rising-star-for-rest-of-season-bennedict-mathurin-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/09\/indiana-pacers-lose-rising-star-for-rest-of-season-bennedict-mathurin-injury\/","title":{"rendered":"Indiana Pacers Lose Rising Star for Rest of Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>According to ESPN&#8217;s Adrian Wojnarowski, Indiana Pacers wing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mathube01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-09_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bennedict Mathurin<\/a> will miss the rest of the season due to a right shoulder injury. The team put out an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/pacers\/news\/indiana-pacers-medical-update_2\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">official statement<\/a> on Saturday:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The Indiana Pacers announced on Saturday that guard Bennedict Mathurin has been diagnosed with a torn labrum in his right shoulder, an injury which will require surgery. The procedure will be performed by renowned surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles next week.<\/p>\n<p>Mathurin will miss the remainder of the 2023-24 season and is expected to make a full recovery ahead of the 2024-25 season.<\/p>\n<p>Any additional updates on Mathurin\u2019s status will be provided as appropriate.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In Mathurin&#8217;s last game against the Dallas Mavericks, he put up 19 points in 25 minutes of play.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">ESPN Sources: Indiana Pacers G Bennedict Mathurin will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. Mathurin \u2014 the 2024 Rising Stars MVP \u2014 averages 14.5 points. He\u2019s expected to make a full recovery ahead of the 2024-2025 season. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/DDv4TQiCO4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/DDv4TQiCO4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wojespn\/status\/1766565857260392509?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 9, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Indiana Pacers Lose Rising Star for Rest of Season<\/h2>\n<h3>Bennedict Mathurin&#8217;s Season<\/h3>\n<p>On the season, Mathurin played in 59 games while starting 19 of them. In those games, the second-year wing averaged 14.5 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists per game. Furthermore, Mathurin shot 44.6% from the field and 37.4% from the three-point line. After the team <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/02\/08\/nba-news-indiana-pacers-trade-buddy-hield\/\" target=\"_self\">traded<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hieldbu01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-09_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Buddy Hield<\/a> to the Philadelphia 76ers, Mathurin assumed a larger role and has looked good up to this point.<\/p>\n<p>Mathurin played in the 2024 NBA Rising Stars Challenge and took home the MVP award. In the tournament, he put up 22 points for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/roseja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-09_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Rose<\/a>&#8216;s team. Additionally, Mathurin took part in the NBA Skills Challenge at All-Star Weekend and won as a part of Team Pacers with teammates <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/halibty01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-09_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyrese Haliburton<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/turnemy01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-09_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Myles Turner<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>How Bennedict Mathurin&#8217;s Injury Impacts the Pacers<\/h3>\n<p>Currently, the Pacers have a 35-29 record and own the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference. Additionally, they are 3.5 games back from the No. 4 seed and are 5.5 games ahead of the No. 10 seed. Although at least a Play-In spot is practically guaranteed for the Pacers, they are a team talented enough to be in the upper part of the standings. And with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/01\/17\/trade-grades-pacers-and-raptors-agree-on-pascal-siakam-trade\/\" target=\"_self\">in-season trade<\/a> for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/siakapa01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-09_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pascal Siakam<\/a>, the Pacers are evidently looking to contend right now. Losing Mathurin with just 18 games left is a big blow to the team. Mathurin is a very solid wing who provides depth and good two-way basketball.<\/p>\n<h3>What&#8217;s Next for Indiana?<\/h3>\n<p>Mathurin is not the only wing missing for the Pacers. Veteran <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mcderdo01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-09_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Doug McDermott<\/a> has not been on the court since suffering a calf injury against the Toronto Raptors on February 26. For now, McDermott is on a day-to-day basis, but he will likely see an increased role upon his return. Furthermore, the Pacers will likely rely more on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sheppbe01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-09_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ben Sheppard<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/toppiob01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-09_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Obi Toppin<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/walkeja02.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-09_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jarace Walker<\/a> in the meantime.<\/p>\n<p>Though the loss of Mathurin will sting for the Pacers, not all is lost. They are still a very solid and young team. Led by Haliburton and Siakam, the Pacers are still a sneaky pick to make some noise in the NBA Playoffs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to ESPN&#8217;s Adrian Wojnarowski, Indiana Pacers wing Bennedict Mathurin will miss the rest of the season due to a right shoulder injury. The team put out an official statement on Saturday: The Indiana Pacers announced on Saturday that guard Bennedict Mathurin has been diagnosed with a torn labrum in his right shoulder, an injury [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4631,"featured_media":66934,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,2,11,62,3,13,14],"tags":[4860,4303,256,448,4790,637,202,2617,1754,2607],"class_list":["post-66923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-featured","category-pacers","category-nba","category-news","category-76ers","category-raptors","tag-ben-sheppard","tag-bennedict-mathurin","tag-buddy-hield","tag-doug-mcdermott","tag-jarace-walker","tag-myles-turner","tag-nba-news","tag-obi-toppin","tag-pascal-siakam","tag-tyrese-haliburton"],"modified_by":"Elie Deglaoui","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4631"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}