Indiana Pacers guard Caris LeVert will miss Tuesday night's game vs. the Charlotte Hornets due to health and safety protocols, sources tell The Athletic's Shams Charania.
Hornets-Pacers is the first game of this year's Play-in Tournament. If Indiana advances beyond Tuesday, Levert will be sidelined for multiple games, as his absence is expected to be at least 10-14 days, sources added.
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LeVert is the second-leading scorer for the Pacers with 20.7 points per game, while also averaging 4.9 assists and 4.6 rebounds over his 35 starts this season.
Despite being traded to Indiana on Jan. 13 in the four-team blockbuster trade that sent James Harden to Brooklyn, LeVert didn't make his debut until two months later after undergoing successful surgery to remove a small cancerous mass from his left kidney.
Can the Pacers win without him?
Zach Harper, NBA staff writer: Legally, yes they can win without him. They beat the Hornets in Charlotte earlier in the season after trading for LeVert, before he rejoined the team following his kidney surgery. This team has shown offensive explosions at random times throughout the season. But they're down LeVert, T.J. Warren, and Myles Turner already. Domantas Sabonis and leading-scorer Malcolm Brogdon are banged up, too. The Hornets are highly energetic and mostly healthy. They need some help here.
Who needs to step up?
Harper: Indiana will need Brogdon and Sabonis to have big games. We've seen it plenty of times this season, but Brogdon has a hamstring issue and Sabonis has a quad issue to play through. When they won in Charlotte earlier this season, Justin Holiday knocked down five 3-pointers and Doug McDermott had 28 off the bench. We're probably going to need to see something like that. It won't be just one guy. T.J. McConnell needs to have a big night, as well.
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