Is Jarace Walker Playing in Game 1? (Injury Update, Betting Impact for Pacers vs. Thunder)

The Indiana Pacers will be without one of their young forwards to open up the 2025 NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Forward Jarace Walker, who injured his ankle in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the New York Knicks, has been ruled out for Game 1 on Thursday night. Walker is expected to miss at least the first two games of this series with the ankle injury.

Carlisle: Jarace Walker (ankle) to miss at least first 2 games of Finals.
— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) June 2, 2025

Walker did not play in the first four games against the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals, but he did play in Game 5 and Game 6. In Game 5, the former lottery pick finished with six points, one rebound and one steal in just over 13 minutes of action.

The Pacers are set as nine-point underdogs in Game 1 at DraftKings Sportsbook. The Thunder enter this series as -700 favorites, a sign that oddsmakers expect OKC to win the title fairly easily.

With Walker out on Thursday and for Game 2 on Sunday, the Pacers will likely lean more on Bennedict Mathurin off the bench. Mathurin has been up and down in the playoffs, but he can get hot as a scorer.

The Pacers may need Mathurin to play some big minutes with Aaron Nesmith (ankle) also a little banged up, although Nesmith did not miss a game in the Eastern Conference Finals.

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