Pacers Injury Report: Rick Carlisle Supplies Troubling Update on Obi Toppin Injury

Matt Levine | 17 Hours Ago

Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

The Indiana Pacers winning streak came to an end on Thursday night as they fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The final score was 120-114, with Indiana blowing a solid halftime lead.

But one of the biggest storylines from the game was the injury to forward Obi Toppin. Toppin left the game early with a left ankle sprain. The veteran returned before halftime but ended up being ruled out for the second half.

Read more: Pacers' Obi Toppin Helped Off Court After Suffering Significant Injury Early vs Thunder

After the game, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle provided an update on the injury. Indiana plays against the Boston Celtics later today and Carlisle gave a guess as to whether the forward would be able to suit up.

"Obi tried to go back out," Carlisle said. "It didn't seem like it was that bad initially and then he felt it when he went back out. I certainly assume he'll miss tomorrow. We'll see. He's been a guy that's bounced back quickly."

The hope is that Toppin can return to the court sooner rather than later but the Pacers won't push him. They will wait until he can fully resume all activities to avoid anything from happening.

Toppin has been crucial for Indiana in their season turnaround, providing a ton of defense to the team. His abilities to lock in defensively has helped the entire organization and it's seen the Pacers become one of the hottest teams in the NBA.

He has averaged 10.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game this season, on 55.4 percent shooting. But over the last month-plus, Toppin has stepped up his game heavily for Indiana, averaging 14.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.

Indiana views Toppin highly and he has earned his role within the team. The Pacers agreed to a four-year, $58 million contract this offseason with the veteran and he has rewarded them with his play.

If Toppin is forced to miss any game time, others would need to step up. Jarace Walker would be the most likely candidate to do so and he supplied Indiana with some nice minutes against Oklahoma City in the absence of Toppin.

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