INDIANAPOLIS – As if Sunday’s 46-point loss to the Raptors wasn’t bad enough, the Pacers also received terrible injury news on Jeremy Lamb’s left knee.
Lamb tore his ACL, suffered a torn lateral meniscus and a lateral femoral condylar fracture in the loss to the Raptors.
He will miss the rest of the season with surgery coming at a later day. Such a severe injury will certainly impact Lamb’s outlook for parts of the 2020-21 season. Lamb is under contract with the Pacers for two more seasons, through 2021-22.
The injury came early in the second quarter on Sunday, with Lamb attempting a fast-break dunk, as Raptors guard Terence Davis challenged him at the rim.
Lamb, 27, was fouled on the play and landed awkwardly on his left leg. Following the game, Lamb said he didn’t think the foul was dirty flagrant.
“No, I’m not upset about it,” Lamb said of the foul. “He tried to make a play on it and that happens all the time. He bumped me in the air and I hung on the rim, so I don’t think it was dirty or nothing like that. It just happens, and obviously looking back on it, I probably should have not hung on the rim or I don’t know, try to slow him up or something, lay it up, whatever it was. I missed so many layups already, so I was like, ‘I’m dunking this to make sure it goes in.’ Just a freak accident.”
Amazingly, Lamb stayed in the game, made both of his foul shots, before the Pacers committed a foul, allowing their injury guard to walk slowly to the locker room.
In 46 games this year (42 starts), Lamb was averaging 12.5 points and 4.3 rebounds. He was shooting 45.1 percent from the floor and 33.5 percent from three-point range.
With Victor Oladipo back, Lamb had slid into a 6th man role off the bench.
Those minutes could now mean Aaron Holiday will get a more consistent look into the rotation, with the role for Justin Holiday likely increasing.
The loss of Lamb does mean Indiana is losing one of its top individual creators on the offensive end of the floor. With the trade deadline passed, perhaps the Pacers look into the buyout market, although they will have to cut a player to free up a roster spot.
Some might rather see Indiana give the 28.1 minutes per game Lamb was averaging to younger options in Aaron Holiday, or even Edmond Sumner.
The Pacers are 33-24 on the year and will return to action on Tuesday in a home game versus Charlotte.
