Pacers Guard Departs Bucks Game on Crutches

The Indiana Pacers can't catch a break.

The banged-up team dropped a heartbreaking home rematch against the Milwaukee Bucks, now armed with ex-Pacers starting center Myles Turner, thanks to a walk-off Giannis Antetokounmpo buzzer-beating elbow jumper on Monday.

Indiana may have started the game missing six players, but they wrapped it up sans eight. Guards Johnny Furphy and Quenton Jackson both departed the game during its second half, never to return. Jackson left first, and was diagnosed with a sore right hamstring. Furphy sprained his left ankle and gamely tried to play through it at first, but ultimately left for the locker room.

Per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star, Furphy exited Gainbridge Fieldhouse on crutches, a troubling development for a team that can ill afford to lose, well, anybody else.

So many Pacers players are hurt, in fact, that Furphy's All-Star power forward teammate Pascal Siakam didn't even notice he had exited the game.

"I didn't even know until after and I was like, 'Damn,'" Siakam said, per Dopirak. "It's almost laughable, you know? It's not funny. But it's just a tough situation."

The Walking Wounded Pacers

Furphy wrapped up the game with three points on 1-of-2 shooting from the field and three rebounds in 12:50 of healthy play. Siakam paced Indiana with a 32-point outburst on 11-of-24 shooting from the floor and 9-of-12 shooting from the charity stripe, while Isaiah Jackson logged a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double.

Per the league's latest injury report, both Furphy and Jackson have already been ruled out of Wednesday's clash against the winless Brooklyn Nets (0-7) — along with six other players. A ninth Pacers player, guard RayJ Dennis, is on the injury report, but is considered probable to play through a low back sprain.

The Pacers had been trailing Milwaukee by as many as 12 points, 106-94, at the 7:11 mark, before rallying to tie the game late. Antetokounmpo's game winner made the final margin 117-115.

"This is all you can ask for," a defeated head coach Carlisle said of his available players' fight. "We were down double digits again in the fourth quarter and fought back to tie it. We're right there again. This journey is difficult but important. We've all gotta keep our eye on the ball, keep fighting and keep giving ourselves chances."