What happens to the Pacers' player props without Aaron Nesmith?
In the 37 regular-season games Indiana played without Aaron Nesmith in 2025-26, against 45 with him, Pascal Siakam averaged 23.61 points (median 24) against 24.15 (median 25) with him, Andrew Nembhard 18.00 points and 6.54 assists against 16.18 and 8.48, and Jay Huff 10.16 points and 4.59 rebounds against 9.04 and 3.42. The Pacers scored 111.24 points a game without him and 113.40 with him. Nesmith's absence overlapped with other absences, and the 2026-27 season has no games yet, so this is last season's pattern with the cause unknown.
Aaron Nesmith will not play for Indiana at New Orleans on Wednesday, October 21, 2026. The ESPN injury feed lists him as out in an entry dated October 20, 2026, and its comment reads, “Nesmith (hamstring) has been ruled out for Wednesday’s game against New Orleans.” The feed lists T.J. McConnell out for the same game with a hamstring strain. The 2026-27 season has not produced a Pacers game yet, so every number below comes from last season: Indiana played 82 regular-season games in 2025-26, Nesmith played 10 or more minutes in 45 of them, and 37 came without him. Our logs do not say why he missed those games, so the cause is unknown.
A game counts as with Nesmith when he played at least 10 minutes, a fifth of regulation. Two games he left early still count as with him: December 27 (19 minutes) and February 19 (15 minutes). The 37 games without him came in eight stretches, the longest a run of 19 from November 15 to December 26, and the last eight from March 29 to April 12.
The Pacers, with Nesmith against without him
| Pacers per game (median) | With, 45 games | Without, 37 games |
|---|---|---|
| Points | 113.40 (113) | 111.24 (112) |
| Rebounds | 42.40 (42) | 41.38 (41) |
| Assists | 28.42 (29) | 26.76 (25) |
| Three-pointers | 13.31 (13) | 13.46 (13) |
Nesmith himself averaged 13.80 points, 4.16 rebounds, 1.91 assists and 2.33 three-pointers in 29.64 minutes in the games he played.
The teammates: minutes and points
| Player | Games with, without | Minutes with | Minutes without | Points with (median) | Points without (median) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pascal Siakam | 39, 23 | 33.56 | 32.57 | 24.15 (25) | 23.61 (24) |
| Andrew Nembhard | 33, 24 | 31.12 | 31.62 | 16.18 (15) | 18.00 (17) |
| Jarace Walker | 44, 32 | 26.50 | 24.69 | 11.93 (11.5) | 11.22 (11.5) |
| Jay Huff | 45, 37 | 19.76 | 22.54 | 9.04 (8) | 10.16 (10) |
| Ben Sheppard | 42, 23 | 20.36 | 23.30 | 6.71 (6) | 7.70 (8) |
The teammates: rebounds, assists and threes
| Player | Rebounds with | Rebounds without | Assists with | Assists without | Threes with | Threes without |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pascal Siakam | 6.64 (6) | 6.61 (6) | 4.21 (4) | 3.13 (3) | 1.62 (1) | 1.83 (2) |
| Andrew Nembhard | 3.12 (2) | 2.38 (2) | 8.48 (8) | 6.54 (6.5) | 1.76 (2) | 2.04 (2) |
| Jarace Walker | 5.14 (5) | 5.16 (5) | 2.84 (3) | 2.09 (2) | 1.77 (2) | 1.72 (1) |
| Jay Huff | 3.42 (3) | 4.59 (4) | 1.18 (1) | 1.84 (2) | 1.38 (1) | 1.54 (1) |
| Ben Sheppard | 3.05 (3) | 2.91 (3) | 1.62 (2) | 2.00 (2) | 1.26 (1) | 1.35 (1) |
Every figure is per game the player played, in the group of games shown. Games with and games without count the games each player appeared in, so a player who missed games himself has a smaller count than the group.
What this can and cannot tell you
Most of the rotation shifts were small. Huff played about three more minutes a game and grabbed 4.59 rebounds a game without Nesmith against 3.42 with him, and Sheppard played about three more minutes. Nembhard scored more, 18.00 points against 16.18, and had fewer assists, 6.54 against 8.48, but Siakam, Nembhard and Walker were missing from many of the games without Nesmith: Siakam played 23 of the 37, Nembhard 24 and Walker 32. In the last eight games without him, March 29 to April 12, Siakam played 3, Nembhard 1, Walker 3, Sheppard 3 and Huff all 8, so part of what looks like a Nesmith effect may be the effect of those absences. Kelly Oubre Jr., listed on the Pacers’ roster, played for Philadelphia last season and has no Indiana games in this comparison. Tyrese Haliburton has no 2025-26 games in our logs, so he is in neither group. With the cause unknown and the supporting cast different, none of this forecasts Wednesday’s game at New Orleans, and none of it says anything about prices.
Where to find these
The Pacers’ players appear on the Lab board once their game is posted, each with every result beside the line. The NBA allowance tables are on defense vs position for NBA props, and does defense vs position matter for NBA props explains how to read them. How we check a prop in general is in how to research a player prop, and the same question for a goalie is in Jets props without Connor Hellebuyck.
Source: our NBA game logs, regular season only, Indiana’s 82 games in 2025-26 through April 12, 2026. Nesmith’s status as listed on the ESPN injury feed, entry dated October 20, 2026, read October 20, 2026.
Quick answers
How many games did the Pacers play without Nesmith last season?
37 of their 82 regular-season games, in eight stretches: one game on November 9, a run of 19 from November 15 to December 26, single games on January 17, February 3 and February 11, five from February 20 to March 1, one on March 12, and the last eight from March 29 to April 12. A game counts as with Nesmith when he played at least 10 minutes, a fifth of regulation.
What did Nesmith himself average?
In the 45 games he played 10 or more minutes, 13.80 points (median 14), 4.16 rebounds (median 3), 1.91 assists (median 1) and 2.33 three-pointers (median 2) in 29.64 minutes a game (median 32).
Did Pascal Siakam score more without him?
No, about the same. Siakam averaged 23.61 points (median 24) in 23 games without Nesmith and 24.15 (median 25) in 39 with him, with 3.13 assists against 4.21. The cause of the assist gap is unknown.
Who gained minutes?
Jay Huff went from 19.76 minutes a game to 22.54 and Ben Sheppard from 20.36 to 23.30. Jarace Walker went the other way, from 26.50 to 24.69.
Does this tell me what will happen at New Orleans?
No. Last season's 37 games came with a different roster and a different supporting cast, and T.J. McConnell is also out for the game at New Orleans. These numbers describe what happened; they do not forecast Wednesday, and they say nothing about the prices.
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