Ben Sheppard will have surgery Wednesday to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, and the Indiana Pacers announced it before a game they played with just 12 available players. Coach Rick Carlisle gave the update Monday night in Milwaukee, where a short-handed Indiana lost 110-102 to a Bucks team that had been 0-3. The Pacers are 2-2, and the Ben Sheppard surgery is only part of the injury news they absorbed in the first six days of the season.
Ben Sheppard Surgery: What We Know
Sheppard hurt his left knee in Indiana’s season-opening 123-120 win at New Orleans on Oct. 21 and hasn’t played since. He was diagnosed with the torn meniscus Friday, and the team has since determined he needs surgery, which will take place Wednesday in New York. Sheppard traveled with the team to Brooklyn on Sunday, then stayed behind in New York while Indiana went on to Milwaukee. Carlisle didn’t offer a return date, and a timeline should come into focus after the procedure. Sheppard, now in his fourth season, averaged 7.1 points in 65 games last year and was part of the Pacers teams that reached the 2024 Eastern Conference finals and the 2025 NBA Finals.
Twelve Players, One Rough Night in Milwaukee
Sheppard was one of five Pacers out against the Bucks, along with Ivica Zubac, Andrew Nembhard, T.J. McConnell and Johnny Furphy. Zubac sprained his left ankle in the first quarter of Sunday’s 136-109 win at Brooklyn and left the arena on crutches. He walked into Fiserv Forum Monday without a boot and with a slight limp, and Carlisle gave no timetable. Nembhard sat with a back issue. Tyler Herro had 23 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in the win, and Indiana got through four games in six days with a roster that kept shrinking.
Haliburton Is Back, and He’s Carrying a Lot
The most important number from Monday isn’t about Sheppard. It’s 35. That’s how many minutes Tyrese Haliburton played in the first week of his return from the torn Achilles that wiped out his entire 2025-26 season. He finished with 22 points, nine assists and six rebounds, but afterward said he was “a little beat up.” He rode a stationary bike in the tunnel between stretches on the floor and kept wraps on his legs. A short-handed team asked its returning star to play heavy minutes on the second night of a back-to-back. That’s the kind of thing that works until it doesn’t.
Who Fills Sheppard’s Minutes
It’s already happening. With Nembhard and Zubac out, Jarace Walker played 29 minutes (10 points, eight rebounds) and Quenton Jackson 27, while Aaron Nesmith started and scored 13. Sheppard’s value was never flashy scoring. It’s spacing, length and the ability to defend several positions without the ball. Those are the minutes Walker and Jackson will keep absorbing.
One rotation wing out after Ben Sheppard surgery isn’t a crisis. But with Zubac and Nembhard both dealing with issues and a returning Haliburton leaning hard on his legs, Indiana’s depth is being tested before it was ready. The timeline after Wednesday will say how long.
Ben Sheppard Surgery Leaves the Pacers With Just 12 Available Players