Bennedict Mathurin Ruled Out Wednesday as Pacers' Injury Woes Continue

Bennedict Mathurin is officially out for Wednesday’s matchup against the Washington Wizards with a thumb injury. If you were hoping to see the Indiana Pacers at full strength this week, you are going to have to keep waiting.

Mathurin’s medical chart over the last two years is starting to read like a game of Operation. Between toe, ankle, wrist, and shoulder issues, the guy simply cannot catch a break, and now a bad thumb is forcing him into street clothes for a very winnable game.

Indiana desperately needs some positive momentum right now. They are coming off back-to-back losses, dropping a 114-102 game to the Denver Nuggets before getting outgunned 125-122 by the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.

Losing Mathurin removes a chaotic, downhill scoring punch from a rotation that relies on outscoring its own defensive mistakes. When you are trying to snap a losing streak, taking away one of your most aggressive rim attackers is not exactly the recipe for success.

For the fantasy managers and prop bettors out there, this absence completely changes the math for Wednesday night. The Wizards treat defense like a mild suggestion, meaning the rest of the Indiana wings are about to see a massive bump in usage and shot volume in what should be an absolute track meet.

The immediate focus is surviving Washington without him, but the clock is already ticking for the weekend. The Pacers host the New York Knicks on Friday, and Indiana is going to need all the firepower it can get to deal with that rotation.