Pacers Get Encouraging T.J. McConnell Update Before Mexico City Game

The Indiana Pacers listed T.J. McConnell and Kelly Oubre Jr. as questionable on Friday’s injury report, a day before the 5 p.m. ET tip-off against the Denver Nuggets at Arena CDMX in Mexico City.

McConnell hurt his right hamstring before training camp opened and has not played in any of Indiana’s first nine games. The team had him listed out as recently as Wednesday in Memphis. Oubre’s left calf contusion has cost him the last two games.

Tyrese Haliburton, Ben Sheppard, and Johnny Furphy are out again. Haliburton has the left hamstring strain that has sidelined him since late October, Sheppard is recovering from left meniscus surgery, and Furphy from surgery to repair his right ACL.

Indiana is the designated home team for its first game in Mexico, so the franchise is bringing its Gold Out south of the border, with a gold T-shirt on every seat for a sellout crowd of more than 22,000.

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle brought the Dallas Mavericks to the same arena in 2017 and again in 2019. He remembered the atmosphere as “fantástico.”

“This arena is spectacular,” Carlisle said. “I think this arena is a little bigger than a lot of the NBA arenas … It’s a full sellout. The fans are very enthusiastic, they go crazy for NBA basketball. We’re looking forward to it.”

Speaking with reporters after Friday’s practice at the arena, Oubre said he will play Saturday, Pacers.com reported. Indiana has not moved him off questionable.

Oubre was set to come off the bench Monday at home against the Atlanta Hawks. He was pulled shortly before tip-off with what Carlisle thought at the time was a bruised knee. When Indiana put out its report for Memphis on Tuesday, the listing read left calf contusion. He missed that game, too.

Oubre came over in July on a two-year deal worth nearly $17 million. He had spent three seasons in Philadelphia, and he averaged 14.1 points and 5.0 rebounds for the 76ers in 2025-26.

At an average of 7,350 feet, Mexico City sits about 2,000 feet above Denver, and the thin air caught Oubre off guard when he played in the city with the Phoenix Suns in 2019. It was “pretty gnarly,” Oubre said, and he underestimated it.

“Coach made it a point to open up our lungs,” Oubre said. “We did some sprints, we did a lot of running, things to stay active and just kind of break in our bodies for this altitude.”

He was excited when signing with Indiana meant a trip back to Mexico City.

“I love Mexico City,” Oubre explained. “I love the culture, the architecture, the colors all around. I’m looking forward to it being loud and proud in here. We are here to put on a show for the Mexican fans and all the people that support us. I think they deserve a great showing. Hopefully we can give that to them tomorrow.”

Haliburton did not travel to Mexico City. Carlisle said staying home was “better for his rehab.” McConnell made the trip.

Saturday will be the sixth straight game Haliburton has missed since ESPN’s Shams Charania reported the hamstring strain on Oct. 28. Before that night’s loss to Philadelphia, Carlisle described the strain as mild, put Haliburton on a week-to-week timeline, and said he would give an update in two weeks.

Haliburton came back this season from the torn right Achilles that cost him all of 2025-26. In the four games he played before the strain, he shot 51.6% from the field and 37.0% from 3-point range.

McConnell’s progress came up in that same Oct. 28 session, when Carlisle said McConnell had been passing tests and was nearing a return.

When Carlisle first talked about Sheppard’s knee, the timeline was two to six weeks. Then the surgery became a full meniscus repair, and his estimate went to months.

On Feb. 8 in Toronto, Furphy threw down a dunk, landed on his right knee, and tore the ACL in what became a 122-104 loss to the Raptors. Through 34 games that season, he was averaging 5.2 points and 4.4 rebounds.

Zubac sat five games with a left ankle sprain before returning Wednesday in Memphis, and his name is not on Saturday’s report. His past trips to Mexico never took him to the capital.

“It’s fun,” Zubac said Friday. “We only get to play in front of American crowds. Just to go somewhere else and experience different cultures, it’s fun. Growing up playing in Europe, we used to play games in different countries all the time. It kind of reminds me of that. It’s very exciting.”

DeMar DeRozan sat out Denver’s 128-109 win over Toronto on Wednesday with lower back spasms, and he is probable for the Nuggets. Julian Strawther, Andrew Nembhard’s former teammate at Gonzaga, is out with a left knee sprain.

On the other bench, Nembhard will find his younger brother, Ryan, who is a guard for Denver.

The team’s game preview projects Braden Smith to start again at point guard for Indiana. Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, and Ivica Zubac round out the projected lineup. Siakam needs 20 points to reach 13,000 for his career. He would be the 235th player in NBA history to get there.

Basketball is starting to grow in Mexico, the way Siakam sees it.

“Just seeing how global the league has [gotten] and being in different countries,” Siakam said. “Obviously I played in Toronto before so I know what it means to the country and to the fans in Canada and all that. I know that basketball is starting to grow here, too. It’s something that we’re excited to be a part of.”

Jamal Murray leads the Nuggets at 25 points per game, while Nikola Jokic has three triple-doubles through seven games.

Denver last came to Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Dec. 3, 2025. Murray went 19-of-25 from the field and 10-of-11 from 3-point range for 52 points in a 135-120 Nuggets win. That was one of two Denver wins over Indiana last season.

Indiana got to 3-6 by ending its five-game skid with a 107-103 win in Memphis on Wednesday. The win over Toronto that same night put Denver at 4-3, with two wins in its last three games. DAZN has the Indiana broadcast, and nationally the game is on NBA TV.

Monday’s stop in Dallas closes the road trip, with the Mavericks waiting at 8 p.m. ET. Indiana is back at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Wednesday to host the Washington Wizards at 7 p.m. ET.