Pacers Injury Report: 3 Pelicans Starters Ruled Out vs Indiana

Indiana will be squaring off against an ailing New Orleans club on Friday.

Mar 21, 2023; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) and forward Herbert Jones (5) react to a play from the bench against the San Antonio Spurs during the first half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The 2-3 Indiana Pacers will be squaring off against an ailing 2-3 New Orleans Pelicans squad on Friday night.

In addition to newly-acquired guard Dejounte Murray – who remains out indefinitely with a fractured left hand, suffered in the team's opening night game against the Chicago Bulls — New Orleans will be without its other starting guard, CJ McCollum, and starting forward/center Herb Jones for at least the next two weeks, per a Pelicans announcement on X.

Jones has been officially diagnosed with a right shoulder strain, as well as a small, low-grade partial thickness rotator cuff tear. New Orleans anticipates he'll be out a bit longer than McCollum, between two-to-four weeks, and that his recuperation will dictate his exact timeline for a return. McColllum, meanwhile, is grappling with a right adductor strain, and is pegged to be out for two-to-three weeks.

Murray, sadly, is out indefinitely.

Both McCollum and Jones sat out New Orleans' 104-89 blowout loss to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday. In that contest, Jose Alvarado and Jordan Hawkins drew the starting backcourt roles in place of McCollum and Murray, while veteran reserve Daniel Theis started at center for Jones.

Alvarado has equipped himself competently since inking a contract extension to stay with New Orleans this summer. In five games, the 26-year-old Georgia Tech product is averaging a modest 5.6 points on .385/.353/1.000 shooting splits, 3.8 assists and 1.4 rebounds. He stepped up as a starter against Golden State, scoring a season-high 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the floor (4-of-8 from deep), wihle also pulling down five rebounds, dishing out four assists, blocking two shots and swiping a steal.

New Orleans selected 6-foot-5 shooting guard Hawkins with the No. 14 pick out of the University of Connecticut in 2023. The 22-year-old has stepped up in a major way this year with Murray shelved, averaging 16.2 points on .443/.406/.933 shooting splits, 5.0 rebounds and 1.2 dimes.

According to the NBA's latest injury report, even Hawkins is questionable with lower back spasms. Wing Trey Murphy III is out with a strained right hamstring. Theis, too, is merely questionable with a sore left ankle. Another center, Yves Missi, is grappling with a right lower abdominal contusion, and is also questionable. This team really, really misses Jonas Valanciunas.

On the Pacers side, James Wiseman remains shelved with a torn left Achilles tendon, while starting center Myles Turner is questionable to play through a left ankle sprain. Two-way players Quenton Jackson and Tristen Newton's availability remains unclear. Guard Andrew Nembhard is also questionable with a sore left knee.

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