Indiana Pacers sophomore guard Bennedict Mathurin will undergo season ending surgery to repair a torn right labrum the team announced on Saturday.
Mathurin recently sat out the Pacers’ most recent game vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves with what the team deemed at the time a sprained right shoulder. However after additional testing, the team’s medical personnel and Mathurin alike felt as though the best course of action was to undergo surgery to correct the issue.
The 2024 Rising Stars Game MVP was in the midst of a solid season for the league’s number 1 rated offence. Mathurin was averaging 14.5pts/2ast/4reb/0.6stl per game while shooting .446 from the field and 37.4% from beyond the arc, however he saw his points rise to 19 per contest over his last 5 games.
Mathurin’s loss will be a tough blow for a Pacers club who began the year blisteringly hot, but have since cooled off considerably. Indiana currently sports a 35-29 record and occupy the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. The Pacers have gone 5-5 over their last 10 and now find themselves a half game back of the Miami Heat for the final guaranteed playoff spot.
While Indiana doesn’t find itself in any danger of missing the play-in tournament, losing one of their top rotational players for the homestretch of the season is a tough pill to swallow.
The surgery will be performed by Dr. Neal El Attrache in Los Angeles next week with the expectation that the Canadian guard will be fully recovered for the start of the 2024-25 campaign.
The Pacers are next in action on Sunday at 6pm ET against the Orlando Magic.
Photo: Matt Velazquez. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.