The Pacers were hit with some devastating news on Saturday. Second year guard Bennedict Mathurin was ruled out for the season with a torn labrum.

Mathurin's injury happened during the second quarter of the Dallas game on Tuesday. He played through the pain and finished with 19 points on 7 of 16 shooting.

Without Benn, the league's best bench will be losing a major scoring punch. Going into the season the team had an embarrassment of riches at the two-guard spot. After trading Bruce Brown and Buddy Hield and losing Mathurin to injury, the cupboard is now a bit bare. The Pacers will need to Ben Sheppard, Jarace Walker, and Doug McDermott to play meaningful minutes on the wing. The good news is all three have the capability.

Tonight the Pacers face off with the Magic in an important game for playoff seeding. Indiana currently sits in the 8th spot, two games behind Orlando in the 5th. Unfortunately the teams have been heading in opposite directions as of late. The Magic are 5-2 over the past two weeks, whereas the Pacers are 3-4.

The key to Orlando's success is its stellar defense. For the season the Magic rank fourth in defensive points per possession, allowing an average of 112.3 over 100 possessions. However, during the team's 5-2 stretch, that number has dropped 104. Despite having a middling offense, Orlando stifles opponents en route to a +7.1 points per possession differential.

The Pacers will either have to make shots or play lock down defense themselves if they want to win. Given the team's defensive woes, we need to hope they make the nets sing.

Injuries

Doug McDermott and Bennedict Mathurin are ruled out.

Jalen Suggs and Markelle Fultz are questionable.

How to Watch

Tipoff is at 6:00 PM ET.

TV: Bally Sports Indiana, NBA League Pass

Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan

See ya in the comments!

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