Ivica Zubac, Obi Toppin Return for Pacers at Grizzlies; Haliburton, Oubre Still Out

Ivica Zubac is back in the Indiana Pacers' starting lineup Wednesday night in Memphis. The center has been out since spraining his left ankle in the Oct. 25 win at Brooklyn, a stretch of five games.

Obi Toppin returns as well. A lumbar sprain had cost him the last three games.

Braden Smith, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, and Pascal Siakam will start next to Zubac against the Memphis Grizzlies. Jarace Walker, Jay Huff, and Larry Nance Jr. are also available off the bench.

Kelly Oubre Jr. is not. Indiana listed him with a left calf contusion after he was pulled shortly before Monday's tip-off against the Atlanta Hawks with what was first described as a bruised knee.

Tyrese Haliburton, T.J. McConnell, Ben Sheppard, and Johnny Furphy also remain out.

Smith's first NBA start came Monday, when Indiana had six players in uniform for a 108-104 loss to Atlanta. The rookie from Purdue played 42 minutes and put up 19 points and 10 assists.

Siakam, Nembhard, Nesmith, and Nance all sat that night. Siakam was resting on the second end of a back-to-back, Nembhard and Nesmith were held out for injury management, and Nance was ill.

Smith had never been part of a game where only six players dressed.

"I thought everybody did an unbelievable job," Smith said. "It's hard. I don't think I've ever been a part of a game where six guys have dressed. For all of us to just go out there and leave it all on the court and at least just give them a game, I think it was a big deal to be able to do that. It's hard. You're exhausted for a lot of the time, so it makes it difficult mentally."

Indiana got Smith's draft rights, the 38th pick, from the Chicago Bulls in June. He signed a two-way contract in August.

Zubac came over from the LA Clippers before last season's trade deadline. He played in Indiana's first three games before the ankle sprain.

Haliburton played the first four games of the season after missing all of 2025-26 with the torn Achilles he suffered in the 2025 NBA Finals. He was averaging 21.8 points, 9.5 assists, and 4.5 rebounds on 52% shooting in 33 minutes.

On Oct. 28, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said the left hamstring strain was mild and would keep Haliburton out at least two weeks.

"I don't think it is realistic that he'd play before that," Carlisle said. "And then go from there."

The same hamstring cost Haliburton 10 of 11 games in January 2024. He aggravated it in that year's playoffs and missed the last two games of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics.

Without him last season, Indiana won 19 games, the fewest in franchise history.

McConnell has yet to play this season because of a right hamstring strain. Carlisle said Oct. 28 that he expected McConnell to miss about one more week, and the team listed him as week-to-week Monday.

Sheppard had surgery on his torn left meniscus and will miss "months," Carlisle said. Furphy is recovering from surgery on his right ACL.

Memphis is 6-1 after a 135-134 home loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday. Indiana is 2-6 with five straight losses, and Wednesday's tip-off at FedExForum is 8 p.m. ET.