Christian Braun Reveals What Makes Pacers Difficult to Prepare For

Christian Braun is projected to start at guard for the Denver Nuggets on Saturday against the Indiana Pacers at Arena CDMX in Mexico City. After the Nuggets' practice Friday, he said Indiana's depth makes the Pacers hard to prepare for.

Eleven of the 12 Pacers who played Wednesday in Memphis scored in a 107-103 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. Two nights earlier, Indiana had only six players in uniform for a 108-104 loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

"They get up and down," Braun said. "They share the ball. They, I mean, they're a good team. It's gonna be a fun style that they play."

"They have a ton of players. They play a lot of guys right now, so it's kind of hard to know what to expect," Braun continued. "But when they're at full strength, obviously they were in the Finals last time they were at full strength. So, good team, but a fun matchup between us and them."

In Memphis, the Pacers ran for 18 fast-break points and assisted on 22 of their 40 field goals. Andrew Nembhard scored 22, and Pascal Siakam had 20. Rookie Braden Smith, a two-way signee from Purdue, has started the last two games at point guard.

The 2025 Finals run took them through Milwaukee, top-seeded Cleveland, and New York before Oklahoma City prevailed in Game 7. Tyrese Haliburton tore his right Achilles in the first quarter, and the Pacers won 19 games without him last season.

Haliburton played four games this season before straining his left hamstring in late October, then stayed in Indianapolis to rehab. Kelly Oubre Jr. (calf) and T.J. McConnell (hamstring) are questionable for Saturday, while Ben Sheppard and Johnny Furphy remain out following surgeries. Ivica Zubac and Obi Toppin returned in Memphis.

The Nuggets are 4-3 and beat Indiana twice last season. In their Dec. 3, 2025, game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Jamal Murray scored 52 points on 19-of-25 shooting. He's averaging 25 points per game this season, the team’s best.

The Nuggets took Braun 21st overall out of Kansas in 2022. A year later, as a rookie, he had a championship ring.

Kids were shouting about Nikola Jokić while Braun talked, enough that a reporter mentioned the noise. Jokić had his 201st career triple-double Wednesday against the Toronto Raptors. Nine more would pass Russell Westbrook for the NBA record.

"I don't get surprised," Braun explained. "I think maybe I realize it more than he realizes it. Sometimes I think he probably gets caught off guard more than I do. So my family kind of looks at him in the same way as everybody else does."

"So I kind of understand how those kids feel, and I see it from my family and my friends all the time," Braun continued. "So I think Nikola's caught off guard more than I am."

More than 22,000 tickets are sold for the 35th NBA game ever played in Mexico. For Denver, it's a first in the regular season, and the franchise's only other visit was a 2006 exhibition against the Golden State Warriors.

"I don't know about a different feel, but I think that they don't get to experience the NBA game, the NBA style as much," Braun said. "So I know that they're going to be excited. I know that they're going to be loud and turned up. So hopefully we give them a good show and a win, most importantly."

Braun spent part of his media time on a Spanish-language segment, which did not go smoothly.

"They were asking me to repeat Spanish words, and one, I didn't know what they meant, and two, I can't speak any language other than the one I speak now, and I don't speak the one I speak now very well," Braun said. "So I was struggling over there. It's probably gonna be an embarrassing clip, but it is kind of what it is."

Both teams flew in Thursday, so he hadn't seen much of the city yet.

"Just got here yesterday, so I haven't explored much," Braun said. "Today is probably going to be the coolest part, and then tomorrow, obviously, being in front of the fans will be fun. So the food is great. I haven't been here for long, so I'm really excited for tomorrow and the energy. I think the energy of the crowds is going to be really cool, and obviously, it's a fun matchup."

Saturday's tip is at 5 p.m. ET on NBA TV, with DAZN carrying the Pacers' broadcast.