Here’s the Latest on Pacers Guard Chris Duarte's Toe Injury

Chris Duarte, the Indiana Pacers' 2021 lottery pick, has dealt with a sore left big toe since February.

UPDATE: April 4 — Chris Duarte has been ruled out for the season, Rick Carlisle said after Monday's practice. The Pacers have three games left this season, which concludes on Sunday afternoon.

The story from the weekend is below.

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INDIANAPOLIS — Pacers shooting guard Chris Duarte hasn't played in a game since mid-March and is likely done for the season.

He's dealing with a sore big left toe and has not played in a game since March 15 against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Before the Pacers' 128-123 loss in Boston on Friday night, head coach Rick Carlisle provided the first update on Duarte in a few weeks.

"I'd say it's unlikely we'll see him the rest of the way, but not impossible," he said.

This injury is very different to the one that kept Pacers center Myles Turner out a year ago; that was turf toe for Turner, a more significant injury.

Duarte got hurt right before All-Star break. In a loss to the Timberwolves, Duarte left the game and headed back to the locker room just five minutes in and did not return.

"His toe is doing better all the time," Carlisle added. "Toes are difficult. It's an area of the body where there's not a lot of circulation, big toe injuries linger."

Duarte, 24, is traveling with the team but even during morning shootaround on Friday, he was in sweats rather than practice attire. While he's in street clothes, it's opened up additional minutes for Lance Stephenson and Duane Washington Jr.

In Duarte’s first season as a pro, the 13th overall pick out of Oregon has averaged 13.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists. He shots 43 percent from the field, including 37 percent from deep.

He started in 39 of 55 games played.

Already this season, Turner and T.J. Warren have been ruled out for the rest of the season due to injuries. It's been another injury-derailed season for the Pacers with the official count now above 350 for total games lost due to injury. And thus it's a lost season for the Pacers, who have dropped six games in a row.

The Pacers are 25-53 with four games left — two at home and then two on the road. Right now they're projected to have the fifth-overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, which would be their first time drafting inside the top 10 since 1989.