INDIANAPOLIS -- Pacers wings Bennedict Mathurin and Aaron Nesmith are both listed as questionable on the NBA's official injury report for Friday's 7 p.m. home game against the Utah Jazz.
Mathurin has missed the last three games with left calf soreness. His designation on this report was changed to left calf injury management. Nesmith missed 35 games with an ankle injury from Nov. 1 to Jan. 16. He missed a game for injury management against the Timberwolves in Minnesota on March 17 for injury management but has played in every other game since his return.
Mathurin started at small forward for most of the games Nesmith missed, but Nesmith was re-entered into the starting lineup and Mathurin moved to the bench on Feb. 11. Mathurin has started four games at shooting guard since when point guard Tyrese Haliburton has been out and starting shooting guard Andrew Nembhard moved to point guard.
Mathurin ranks third on the Pacers in scoring with 16.1 points per game and rebounding with 5.4 per game. Nesmith is averaging 11.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game and shooting 50.4% from the floor, 41.8% from 3-point range and 92.4% from the free throw line. He initially struggled to shoot the ball after his return, but since the All-Star break he's averaging 15.3 points per game on 52.1% shooting including 43.8% from 3-point range and also averaging 4.4 rebounds per game.
If neither player is available on Friday, the Pacers might promote Jarace Walker into the starting lineup. Walker has seen his minutes undulate wildly this season as he's been in and out of the rotation, but Mathurin's injury has allowed him steady minutes as he's played at least 21 in each of the last four games. He's scored in double figures in each of those games, averaging 12.8 points per game on 50% shooting including 54.5% from 3-point range in that stretch.
The Pacers' injury report is otherwise clean except for center Isaiah Jackson, who has been out since Nov. 1 with an Achilles tendon tear. Centers Myles Turner and Tony Bradley, who each missed a game this week with illness, are not on the injury report.
The Jazz, who enter Friday's game with the NBA's worst record at 16-61, have a much more extensive injury list. Three of Utah's starters and the leading-scoring sub from the teams' meeting in Salt Lake City on Feb. 3 will not play as forwards Lauri Markkanen (left knee injury management) and John Collins (left ankle sprain) and center Walker Kessler (nasal fracture/concussion protocol) and guard Jordan Clarkson (left foot plantar fasciitis) have all been ruled out. Forwards Taylor Hendricks (right fibula fracture) and Cody Williams (illness) have also been ruled out as have all three players on two-way contracts -- guard Elijah Harkless, forward Micah Potter and center Oscar Tshiebwe.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers injury report: Bennedict Mathurin, Aaron Nesmith questionable
