Indiana Pacers Slapped With Brutal Injury News on Tuesday

Indiana Pacers guard Ben Sheppard is scheduled for surgery Wednesday to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, further thinning a roster that already played with just 12 available players in a 110-102 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night.

Coach Rick Carlisle provided the update before the game at Fiserv Forum, where the Bucks improved to 1-3 after starting 0-3. The Pacers fell to 2-2 after four games in six days.

Sheppard suffered the injury during Indiana’s season-opening 123-120 victory at New Orleans on Oct. 21 and has not appeared since. He was diagnosed with the tear Friday, and the team determined surgery was necessary. The procedure will take place in New York.

Sheppard traveled with the team to Brooklyn on Sunday but remained behind while the Pacers continued to Milwaukee.

Carlisle offered no return timetable. A clearer recovery window is expected after the operation.

The short-handed Pacers were without five players against Milwaukee. In addition to Sheppard, center Ivica Zubac sat with a sprained left ankle suffered in the first quarter of Sunday’s 136-109 win at Brooklyn.

Zubac left that game on crutches but walked into Fiserv Forum without a boot and with only a slight limp. Carlisle gave no timetable for his return.

Guard Andrew Nembhard was out with a back issue. T.J. McConnell and Johnny Furphy were also unavailable, with Furphy sidelined for the season after ACL surgery.

Tyrese Haliburton logged 35 minutes. He finished with 22 points, nine assists and six rebounds in the loss. Afterward, Haliburton said he was “a little beat up.” He rode a stationary bike in the tunnel between stretches on the floor and kept wraps on his legs as the team managed the second night of a back-to-back.

With Nembhard and Zubac unavailable, Jarace Walker played 29 minutes and contributed 10 points and eight rebounds. Quenton Jackson saw 27 minutes. Aaron Nesmith started and scored 13 points.

Sheppard, a fourth-year wing, averaged 7.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 65 games last season while playing 21.4 minutes per night. He has been a regular rotation piece on Pacers teams that reached the 2024 Eastern Conference finals and the 2025 NBA Finals. His contributions have centered on spacing, length and multi-positional defense rather than primary scoring.

Walker and Jackson are absorbing many of those minutes while the frontcourt and backcourt deal with additional absences. The Pacers have navigated an unusually compact early schedule while managing injuries to key pieces around the returning Haliburton.

One rotation wing missing time is manageable in isolation. Combined with Zubac’s ankle sprain, Nembhard’s back issue and Haliburton’s heavy early minutes on recovering legs, however, the absences have tested Indiana’s depth sooner than expected.

The surgery Wednesday should provide more clarity on Sheppard’s absence. Until then, the Pacers will continue relying on available players to fill expanded roles in a season that has already demanded significant adjustments.