Indiana Pacers Injury Report (Dec. 7): Latest update on Myles Turner and Buddy Hield's availability
The Indiana Pacers are in the 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament Semi-Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks and they need Myles Turner and Buddy Hield to be huge factors for them to advance. The two NBA Eastern Conference teams will have their match on neutral ground at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Dec. 7 beginning at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
For those who want to catch the action, ESPN has the television broadcast rights while the same feed is made available on live streaming by subscribing to NBA League Pass.
According to the recent injury report of the Indiana Pacers, only one player is ruled out against the Milwaukee Bucks and that is power forward Jalen Smith who is still nursing a knee injury.
That means all other players including the Pacers' top three scorers, Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner and Buddy Hield, are available to play.
During their matchup against the Boston Celtics, the Pacers went with Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield as the starting guards while Obi Toppin, Buddy Hield and Myles Turner compose the front court.
Indiana Pacers embracing the underdog tag in the 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament
The Indiana Pacers had quite an interesting path heading to the NBA In-Season Tournament Semi-Finals. In the group stage, they were not the favorites to come out but instead outplayed the Philadelphia 76ers and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Entering the quarter-finals, this team was able to defeat the Boston Celtics by 10 points and earn the right to face the NBA Cup East Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks.
After the win over the Celtics, Tyrese Haliburton is not surprised by how the team played and they love shocking the world as underdogs:
"[The Boston game felt] good to win, especially in a game where nobody expected us to. You don't play on national TV if you don't win games," Haliburton said. "That's all we're about right now is changing how this organization is viewed and how we are, as players, viewed."
Against the Celtics, Haliburton gave his team his first career triple-double of 26 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds. Buddy Hield was not far behind with 21 points but the Pacers had seven players in double-figures in the victory.
Damian Lillard is not taking the Pacers lightly and he knows that their next opponents are loaded with firepower that can shoot from all over the court:
"We got to be ready to defend those guys," said Lillard about facing the Pacers. "They spread the floor, they get into the paint, they kick it out, they have a lot of shooters, they got a shooting big man. We going to have to be really sharp. It's going to be a good game."
This will be the second time that both teams meet in the regular season. The first matchup was won by the Indiana Pacers by two points with the final score settling at 126-124.