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Myles Turner: “I couldn’t tell Tyrese, Pascal, Obi, TJ, or any of those guys what was really going on at the time because, one, it’s basically a breach when you’re in active negotiations. And two, I couldn’t show my hand. If I told them what was up, then all of a sudden it gets back to the front office like, ‘Oh, Myles, you’ve got this going on,’ and that could mess up my whole free-agency process. And mind you, this was my first time ever being a free agent—an unrestricted free agent. So I had to cherish that opportunity to choose, and I was going to take full advantage of it.”
Tony East: Pascal Siakam, Andrew Nembhard, and Ben Sheppard are out tonight, Carlisle says. Aaron Nesmith, TJ McConnell, Obi Toppin, and Ivica Zubac all playing. Jalen Slawson and Taelon Peter will be active.
Dustin Dopirak: Carlisle says Andrew Nembhard will play. T.J. McConnell, Aaron Nesmith and Obi Toppin will not play. Toppin has not been on the injury report in the last 24 hours but obviously, he's coming back from a foot injury.
Law Murray: John Collins (neck strain) has been ruled out for Wednesday vs Pacers. Ivica Zubac (ankle, lottery) will not play in the Pacers’ visit to Intuit Dome. Former Clipper Kobe Brown is available. Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam questionable. Obi Toppin probable.
Dustin Dopirak: Asked Rick Carlisle how Obi Toppin came through his first game. "He's fine. He played eight minutes. You and I could play eight minutes. I don't know in what league, but we could play eight minutes."
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Dustin Dopirak: Rick Carlisle on Obi Toppin: "Just the reaction was the crowd was heart-warming. ... It's clear this is going to be a slow process of getting him graduatlly back up to speed."
Tony East: Obi Toppin: "I know that my foot's good right now." Said that he knows his explosion isn't where it was at the end of last season but thinks it will get there as he plays more often down the stretch.
Scott Agness: After a good first quarter for the Pacers, it was all Hornets after that: 133-109. 16-3 run to start the 2nd, a period they outscored Pacers 36-12. Brandon Miller scored 33, Kon Knueppel had 28. CHA was 22/46 from 3. Obi Toppin started, played 8mins in 1H Next: Sun. v MEM
Tony East: "His versatility is unique. He can really play 3 positions... His speed, the way he moves with the game, he's a movement maker on the floor. He has a knack for it. Fits extremely well into what our philosophy of the game is," Rick Carlisle says of Obi Toppin and what makes him effective.
Dustin Dopirak: Rick Carlisle: "Toppin will play tonight. He will be on a minutes restriction and it's safe to assume he'll be a minutes restriction the rest of the season."
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Scott Agness: Pacers forward Obi Toppin has been upgraded to questionable for Thursday's game v Charlotte. He's been out since Oct. 26 with a stress fracture in his right foot. Siakam is doubtful. Nembhard is questionable.
Tony East: Do you expect Ivica Zubac and Obi Toppin to play again at some point this season? Pacers GM Chad Buchanan: I expect them to, yeah. [Toppin] is coming back from his injury, [Zubac] is still recovering from an ankle injury that he was trying to play through and we want to make sure he's completely recovered from that before we put him back out there. I think that's the prudent thing to do to ensure that he doesn't have a re-aggravation of anything and put him in the best position to be playing at a high level.
Tony East: [The pick protection] gives incentives for how the rest of this season could go. How do you want that to be approached? Pacers GM Chad Buchanan: I think our organization has always been about competing. We’ve got a lot of integrity with this organization, that’s how we operate. We’ll continue to operate that way. We want to be developing some of our younger guys. Obviously, losing Johnny [Furphy] is unfortunate because I think he was going to have a lot of opportunity. He was showing signs of growth and progress, and that’s going to be paused now for a little bit while he recovers. But there’s young players on our roster still that we want to see see how they can handle the opportunities in front of them. But also we want to get some chemistry with [Zubac] once he’s healthy. [Obi Toppin] is on the mend from his injury, and we want those guys to have some time together. But we also want to be smart on how much load we put on them. Those guys all want to play. Those guys, this is what they love to do. But we’re gonna have to approach the rest of the year with what we’ve always been about, and that’s competing. And some nights that’ll look different, but we’re always going to go out there and try to compete to win.
