Pacers News: Rick Carlisle Provides Massive Injury Update on Obi Toppin Return

The reserve power forward missed the last game against the Celtics with an ankle sprain.
Dec 23, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Obi Toppin (1) drives to the basket against Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins (22) in the second quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Eakin Howard-Imagn Images
Dec 23, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Obi Toppin (1) drives to the basket against Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins (22) in the second quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Eakin Howard-Imagn Images / Eakin Howard-Imagn Images
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The Indiana Pacers got slaughtered by the Boston Celtics on Friday night. It was the second night of a back-to-back, and it showed. They lost the game 142-105. There was never a time when it was close. The lack of rest definitely hurt the team after losing a game to Oklahoma City on Thursday night.

No one played particularly well against the Celtics. The defense was horrible for most of the contest as well. The Pacers let Jaylen Brown have a career-high 44 points in the game. They did not play Boston as closely as they did in the Eastern Conference Finals a year ago.

Indiana was without one of their key bench players against Boston, though. Obi Toppin missed the game after spraining his ankle against the Thunder. He sprained it, came back in, and then left for the rest of the game after trying to give it a go. He sat out the game in Boston.

Toppin has been one of the best offensive players for the Pacers this season. He is averaging a career-high in points and rebounding and is shooting 55% from the field. Toppin is one of the guys who love running down the court quickly in transition to get easy buckets.

Prior to getting bludgeoned by the Celtics, Rick Carlisle gave an update on Toppin's ankle. He doesn't have a timetable for how long he will be out but said that Toppin felt better on Friday than he did after the game against Oklahoma City, but also noted he's a fast healer.

One thing that is a good signal for the Pacers is that Toppin did briefly return against the Thunder after originally suffering the injury. That indicates that it's not too serious of a sprain. Toppin is a pretty flexible person, so there's hope that he could come back soon.

The Pacers play another game against the Celtics on Sunday. It would be nice for them to have Toppin available for that game, but adding him alone won't make the Pacers win that game. They have to play much better defense on the three-point line if they want to beat Boston.

Toppin is just the latest Pacers player to go down with an injury. They are still waiting for Aaron Nesmith to return from his ankle sprain. He has missed almost two months with that injury.

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