INDIANAPOLIS — Ivica Zubac will play his first game with the Pacers on Thursday since being acquired from the Clippers in a Feb. 5 trade, coach Rick Carlisle said in his news conference prior to playing the Suns.
Zubac sprained his left ankle in late December and returned to play in early January after missing just five games. Carlisle said the ankle hadn’t fully healed at the time of the trade, so with the Pacers out of playoff contention, Zubac was encouraged to take his time to fully recover before getting back on the floor. However, Carlisle still considered it important to get time on the floor with the Pacers regulars, so he will return with 17 games remaining and the Pacers mathematically eliminated from the postseason.
“It was getting my ankle to 100 percent,” Zubac said. “When I got here I was still feeling a little something. We wanted to get that right before I got on the court. Once I got that right and my conditioning right, once we got all that out of the way, that was it.”
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The Pacers have tagged Zubac to be their permanent replacement at center after losing Myles Turner to free agency. He averaged 14.4 points and 11.0 rebounds for the Clippers this season prior to the trade. Carlisle said Zubac will start on a minutes restriction.
“Go hard and do what you do,” Carlisle said when asked for his message to Zubac in the remaining games. “We’ve had him in controlled workouts. It’s been a ramp-up over a 3 1/2 week period trying to work through this ankle thing. He’s feeling much better. It’s just simplicity and execution. He’s gotta get a start. He’s gotta get out there.”
The Pacers will be short-handed Thursday night outside of Zubac, however. Point guard Andrew Nembhard — listed as questionable with low back soreness — will be available. However, All-Star forward Pascal Siakam (right knee sprain) forwards Aaron Nesmith (right ankle injury management) and Obi Toppin (right foot injury management) and guards T.J. McConnell (right hamstring soreness) and Quenton Jackson (right calf soreness) are all out with injuries.
With All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton (right Achilles tendon tear) and forward Johnny Furphy (right ACL tear) also out with season-ending injuries, the Pacers will have just eight available players on standard contracts — Nembhard, Zubac, centers Jay Huff and Micah Potter, guards Kam Jones and Ben Sheppard and forwards Jarace Walker and Kobe Brown. The Pacers will likely have to use all three of their two-way players in guards Ethan Thompson and Taelon Peter and forward Jalen Slawson.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Ivica Zubac injury update: Pacers center to make debut vs Suns
