Two postseason-bound NBA clubs jockeying for homecourt advantage in their respective conferences are squaring off on Sunday night — but they may each be playing without one of their two best players.
Three-time All-Star Indiana Pacers power forward Pascal Siakam has actually already been ruled out for the contest due to right olecranon bursitis, per a recent league injury report.
Siakam may be the only Pacer who made an All-Star team this season, but All-NBA Third Team point guard Tyrese Haliburton can reasonably lay claim to being Indiana’s MVP, thanks to his critical role in initiating the team’s offense and his donwhill ability.
Pacers guard Ben Sheppard, essentially a bonus bench scorer this season, was listed as doubtful to play through a left great toe sprain.
Star Denver Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray, meanwhile, was initially considered questionable to play through an inflamed right hamstring.
Malone: Jamal Murray (hamstring) not expected to play Sunday.
— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) April 6, 2025
Murray is Denver’s second-most important player, behind only three-time league MVP center Nikola Jokic.
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Now, the 6-foot-4 vet out of Kentucky has officially been ruled out for the night.
Jamal Murray (hamstring) ruled out Sunday.
— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) April 6, 2025
It’s a critical game for both clubs.
Sporting a 46-31 record in the Eastern Conference, Indiana has already clinched a top-six seed and thus a playoff berth. The team trails the East’s No. 3 seed, the 49-28 New York Knicks, by three games with just five contests left in both squads’ 2024-25 regular season schedules.
Although the odds are slim of overtaking New York, Indiana is still on the inside track for holding onto homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Pacers are three games clear of the 43-34 Milwaukee Bucks and 3.5 games ahead of the 43-35 Detroit Pistons for dibs on the conference’s fourth seed.
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Denver, on the other hand, finds itself in an absolute dogfight to secure homecourt advantage in the West.
The Nuggets are 47-31 in the league, a game behind the 48-30 Los Angeles Lakers for the conference’s No. 3 seed. Denver is also just marginally ahead of the 46-31 Golden State Warriors (0.5 games) and just a game clear of the No. 6-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves, the No. 7-seeded L.A. Clippers, and the No. 8-seeded Memphis Grizzlies, all of whom are 46-32 as of this writing.
Denver does enjoy a bit of an atmospheric advantage when it plays in Ball Arena, thanks to its significant elevation. So any additional home games it can secure in the playoffs can only be an attribute.
Missing Murray could prove especially costly for the Nuggets in the short-term, as the team will need to lean on his backup, former MVP Russell Westbrook. Westbrook has come under fire of late for making game-losing late-game decisions in consecutive contests. He’s not nearly the 3-point shooter Murray is, and lacks Murray’s knack for knowing whether to score or pass in clutch situations.
This year, Murray is averaging 21.6 points on .476/.396/.887 shooting splits, 6.0 assists, and 3.8 rebounds a night. He has appeared in 65 contests, and may have an outside shot at making his first-ever All-NBA team, as so many other clubs’ best players haven’t been available for enough games to even qualify for the honor.
Siakam, meanwhile, seems to be on pace to make his third All-NBA club. In 76 healthy bouts, the 6-foot-8 New Mexico State product is averaging 20.3 points on .519/.386/.737 shooting splits, 6.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists a night.
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