Andrew Nembhard Sidelined With Neck Injury for Pacers' Clash Against Winless Bucks
Underdog NBA reported: 'Andrew Nembhard (neck) ruled out Monday.'
Andrew Nembhard is officially sitting out Monday night's game against the with a neck injury, proving once again that the NBA's back-to-back schedule remains undefeated.
Getting a neck injury after dropping 14 points in a 136-109 blowout over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday is peak professional basketball. You play 30 minutes of high-level cardio, sleep on the team plane wrong, and suddenly you are in street clothes for the second half of the road trip.
Underdog NBA confirmed the downgrade on Monday afternoon, officially removing one of Indiana's most reliable pieces from the board.
The Pacers are rolling at 2-1 right now, largely because their backcourt is clicking. Nembhard has been a steady hand next to Tyrese Haliburton, averaging 16.0 points and 5.7 assists to start the year.
With Nembhard out, the rotation gets weird in a hurry. Quenton Jackson and Jalen Slawson are next up for minutes, which is the exact kind of sentence that sends fantasy managers scrambling to the waiver wire and prop bettors staring blankly at their screens trying to figure out who is taking those extra shots.
Fortunately for Indiana, they are walking into a matchup against a Bucks squad that is somehow sitting at a disastrous 0-3. Missing your starting two-guard is never ideal, but if there was ever a night to rest a stiff neck, it is against a winless team that looks like they are still trying to figure out how to play basketball together.
Indiana gets a day off before hosting the on Wednesday. Expect Nembhard to spend the next 48 hours on a heating pad while Haliburton absorbs all the usage rate he can handle tonight in .