TJ McConnell's Hamstring Taps Out Early as Nuggets Crush Pacers
Underdog NBA tweeted: 'TJ McConnell (hamstring) will not play 2nd half vs Nuggets.'
TJ McConnell is officially done for the night with a hamstring injury, which might actually be a mercy ruling given what the Denver are currently doing to the Indiana .
Underdog NBA reported that the veteran point guard will not play the second half in Indianapolis. Anyone watching the 74-49 bloodbath unfold could probably guess that throwing a 34-year-old back into a 25-point deficit with a tight hamstring is a fireable offense.
This is not exactly a new problem for McConnell. He has been battling this same hamstring issue for a while, missing time earlier this season and popping up as a game-time decision just a couple of weeks ago. When healthy, he is the undisputed engine of the second unit, averaging 9.4 points and 5.1 assists in about 17 minutes a night.
The without McConnell are basically a car without a steering wheel. We saw it in past playoff series where Indiana would be +19 with him on the floor and a catastrophic -32 when he sat. Right now, they are just trying to survive the Denver buzzsaw without their most reliable floor general.
Live bettors who had Indiana covering any sort of second-half spread are officially drawing dead. Without McConnell's elite ball security—he recently posted an absurd 6.9 assists to 0.7 turnovers ratio over a 10-game stretch—the are going to bleed possessions against a defense that is already suffocating them.
The focus now shifts to Tuesday when Indiana travels to face the Dallas . Hamstrings are notoriously stubborn, and given his recent history of setbacks, do not be shocked if McConnell is wearing street clothes when the team lands in Texas.