Pacers Make Wrong Kind of History with 1-9 Season Start

Nov 9, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Will Richard (3) and Indiana Pacers forward Cody Martin (11) fall to the floor while Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard (2) picks up the loose ball they were fighting for during the fourth quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

Things are really not going well in Indianapolis to start the season.

The Pacers have redefined what it means to have bad injury luck, missing a litany of key players on their way to a 1-9 start — matching their worst start to a season in franchise history.

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The Pacers were without nine players in their 114-83 blowout loss to the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night.

The Pacers played Saturday's game against Golden State with nine men ruled out and what happened was predictable. With their lowest output of the season they fell to 1-9, matching their worst 10-game start in history: https://t.co/nR1Xg5p0fC

— Dustin Dopirak (@DustinDopirak) November 10, 2025

All-Star Tyrese Haliburton tops the list, as he will miss the entirety of the 2025-26 season with an Achilles tendon tear. Joining him on the bench on Sunday was forward Pascal Siakam, who took a rest day Sunday.

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Forward Aaron Nesmith also missed Sunday's game after suffering a right forearm contusion on a hard fall against Denver on Saturday.

Indiana's Bad Injury Luck

The laundry list of injuries continues, with point guard guard T.J. McConnell (right hamstring strain), two-way contract guard Quenton Jackson (right hamstring strain), forward Johnny Furphy (left ankle sprain), guard Bennedict Mathurin (great toe sprain), forward Obi Toppin (stress fracture, right foot) and — finally — rookie guard Kam Jones (lower back stress reaction).

"We're just trying our best to make it work at this point," point guard Andrew Nembhard, who returned from a left shoulder strain on Saturday, said after the game.

Nembhard finished with a team-high 14 points on 5 of 16 shooting. He added nine assists and two turnovers in the loss.

Nembhard noted after the game that the turnover in the team's starting lineup has led to a prolonged adjustment period as players attempt to develop chemistry. In 10 games, as Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star notes, the Pacers have used seven different starting lineups.

"That's the thing, new group," Nembhard said. "We're feeling each other out. Guys understand what we have to do on both sides of the court. It's tough, but we're still trying to figure that out. Trying to play hard through it."

The Pacers could receive good news soon regarding McConnell's injury, but their upcoming stretch of games will continue to challenge a team battling to avoid holding the worst record in the NBA.

"We've got to build on positives right now. We have to find positives, we have to show positives. We've got to stay in the fight," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said. "This is a very difficult stretch of games, a lot of travel. Every excuse in the world. But this is a time that we can really become closer together, if we fight together."

For more news and notes on the Indiana Pacers, visit Indiana Pacers on SI.