Getty Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo suffers knee injury
Life without Victor Oladipo hasn’t been a walk in the park for the Indiana Pacers, but that was to be expected following the brutal news of his injury. The talented guard suffered the injury against the Toronto Raptors exactly one week ago. After going down while landing awkwardly and holding his knee, Oladipo was stretchered off the court shortly after.
As the Pacers revealed the morning after, an MRI on Oladipo’s knee showed that the 26-year-old guard had suffered a ruptured quad tendon.
Victor Oladipo underwent an MRI Thursday that revealed he has a ruptured quad tendon in his right knee, sustained with 4:05 to play in the second quarter of Wednesday night’s game against Toronto. He will undergo surgery at a date to be determined and will be out for the season. Further updates will be provided as warranted.
Losing Oladipo, who had posted averages of 18.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game, was a big blow to one of the Eastern Conference’s top teams. In the two games since the Pacers have fallen to the Memphis Grizzlies in a close game and were then toppled by the Golden State Warriors by 32 on their home floor.
Attempting to replace Oladipo has been a tall task, and no one has stepped up in a big way to fill the void. With that said, we’re going to take a look at the Pacers’ current roster and starting lineup for Wednesday’s game against the Washington Wizards. We’ll also evaluate the names to watch as legitimate options to monitor with Oladipo out.
Pacers Roster & Starting Lineup vs. Wizards
| Position | Expected Starter | Backup | |
| Center | Myles Turner | Kyle O’Quinn | |
| Power Forward | Thaddeus Young | Domantas Sabonis | TJ Leaf |
| Small Forward | Bojan Bogdanovic | Doug McDermott | |
| Shooting Guard | Edmond Sumner | Aaron Holiday | Davon Reed |
| Point Guard | Darren Collison | Cory Joseph |
Filling Void Left by Victor Oladipo’s Injury
As The Athletic’s Scott Agness revealed, the original starter in place of Oladipo, Tyreke Evans, will be out for the second consecutive game due to lower back soreness. During his lone game filling in as a starter, Evans scored nine points on 4-of-7 shooting with three rebounds and one assist.
Both Cory Joseph (10 points in 25 minutes) and Aaron Holiday (seven points, 16 minutes) played minimal roles in that game against the Grizzlies. With Evans out for the following game, it was Edmond Sumner who drew the start and played 28 minutes. The second-year guard out of Xavier shot 1-of-10 from the field for two points and tacked on three rebounds with two steals.
Joseph and Holiday were minimal factors again, but Holiday received a bump in minutes to 22, although he played the entire fourth quarter of the blowout loss. At this point, the Pacers are searching for an option to step up in Oladipo’s absence, but as the days go by, it’s looking more and more like a move at the trade deadline would be wise.
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