Pacers get bad news on C Ivica Zubac injury per report; that latest on his status for Monday

Pacers center Ivica Zubac left the Barclays Center on crutches after spraining his left ankle in the first quarter of Sunday's win over the Nets and will likely not be available for Monday's game against the Bucks in Milwaukee according to a report from Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype. However, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle told reporters that X-rays taken on the ankle were negative for a fracture. "He's got some swelling," Carlisle said in his post-game press conference. "It's pretty unlikely he'll play tomorrow night, but we'll see. Hopefully it will be a day-to-day thing, but you never know. Maybe he'll feel a lot better in the morning. It's hard to say. You never know but it's probably unlikely. I talked to him after the game and he said, 'I'll be alright.'" Zubac suffered a Grade 2 sprain of the same ankle last season in December before the Pacers acquired him from the Clippers in a February trade. Zubac sat out five games in late December and early January before returning to the floor to play through it. However, with the Pacers already well out of contention by the time of the trade, he sat out the first month of games with Indiana. After playing five games last season, he suffered a rib fracture and missed the rest of the season. Zubac posted 25 total points and 26 total rebounds for the Pacers in this season's first two games as their every day starting center. He averaged 14.1 points and 10.6 rebounds combined for the Pacers and Clippers last season and 16.8 points and 12.6 rebounds for Los Angeles in 2024-25 when he was named second-team All-Defense. If Zubac is out, the Pacers have two nominal backup centers in Jay Huff and Larry Nance Jr. and can also fill time at the 5 with power forwards Obi Toppin and Pascal Siakam. Huff responded with 14 points and three blocks on Sunday after Zubac exited. Nance posted six points and six rebounds. With guard Ben Sheppard (left meniscus tear) and point guard T.J. McConnell (left hamstring strain) both out and forward Johnny Furphy still recovering from a February ACL tear, the Pacers would be down to 10 healthy standard-contract players if Zubac is out. They can also use two-way contract players Jalen Slawson, Kobe Brown and Braden Smith and have already used Slawson extensively."With Sheppard being not available right now and T.J. is still not back yet, we need everybody," Carlisle said. "Our game isn't going to look exactly the way it's looked in recent months and years. But the important thing is to find a way to hang in and compete and give ourselves a chance."This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers get bad news on C Ivica Zubac injury per report; that latest on his status for Monday