With both teams trying to pull out of season-opening slumps, the Dallas Mavericks welcome the winless Indiana Pacers to town on Wednesday.
Indiana concludes a three-game road swing hoping to find relief from an injury-plagued 0-3 start.
The Pacers already were dealing with the specter of playing without two-time All-NBA point guard Tyrese Haliburton, the result of an Achilles’ injury sustained in the NBA Finals Game 7 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in June.
That presented an opportunity for Bennedict Mathurin, who capitalized with 36 points in the double-overtime setback to the Thunder to open the season and 26 points on Saturday in a blowout loss at Memphis. But Mathurin also suffered a foot injury that sidelined him for Sunday’s 114-110 defeat at Minnesota.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said Tuesday that Mathurin has a right big toe sprain and is “week-to-week” for a return. Indiana also lost point guard Andrew Nembhard to a left shoulder strain that kept him out of both games over the weekend.
The bevy of backcourt absences opened an opportunity for second-year player RayJ Dennis, who spent much of last season in the G League, to come off the bench and score 12 points in Sunday’s loss.
The Pacers also signed free agent Mac McClung on Monday and waived center James Wiseman to provide backcourt depth.
“We had a workout (on Monday) with three guys, and he basically won the position,” Carlisle said on an appearance with 107.5 The Fan in Indianapolis on Tuesday. “He did a great job in the workout. It’s clear he’s in at least pretty good shape.”
While McClung, the three-time defending NBA dunk contest champ, is meant to alleviate some of the backcourt strife, Indiana’s frontcourt has not been spared the injury bug. Forward Obi Toppin will be out for at least a month according to Carlisle, the result of right hamstring soreness that pulled him from Sunday’s game.
Dallas might not be the most sympathetic team to Indiana’s injury woes. Kyrie Irving sustained a torn ACL last March that is expected to have him out until after the New Year while No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg suffered a left shoulder injury in Monday’s loss to Oklahoma City.
“We’ll see how he feels,” said Mavs coach Jason Kidd. “He played through it. He’s a tough kid.”
Dallas heads into Wednesday’s contest with just one win, beating Toronto 139-129 on Sunday. But the Mavericks struggled offensively in losing their three other contests. The most recent came in the 101-94 defeat to the Thunder, marking the second time this season Dallas failed to score 100 points.
The Mavericks signed veteran D’Angelo Russell in the offseason to address the backcourt hole and he came off the bench Monday to deliver nine points and 10 assists. Dallas also got 11 points from reserve Jaden Hardy, who helped the Mavericks trim a 22-point deficit to a single possession in the fourth quarter.
“In desperation, you’re looking for someone to score. Hardy did that for us, and DLo (Russell) got us organized,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said.
With Russell and Hardy logging late minutes, Flagg — who scored just two points on 1-of-9 shooting from the floor on Monday — was relegated to the sidelines down the stretch.
