Pacers' Obi Toppin to have screw inserted in right foot, out 3 months

Indiana Pacers forward Obi Toppin will undergo surgery to insert a screw in his right foot and is expected to be sidelined for at least three months, coach Rick Carlisle said Friday, dealing a major blow to a team already beset by injuries. The Pacers said Toppin has a partial stress fracture in the fifth metatarsal and plans to have the operation in New York. Carlisle indicated the timeline stretches into February.

Toppin was removed from Sunday’s game against Minnesota with what was initially described as a hamstring issue and had been flagged on subsequent reports with a right-foot stress reaction. He averaged 14.0 points and 6.7 rebounds in the first three games of the season before missing Wednesday’s 107-105 loss to Dallas. The injury will keep the 27-year-old out while he recovers from both the foot surgery and an earlier hamstring strain on the same leg.

The timing compounds a crisis that began with Tyrese Haliburton’s torn right Achilles in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, an injury expected to keep the two-time All-Star out for the season. Indiana also is missing guards Bennedict Mathurin, who is being treated week to week for a foot issue, and Andrew Nembhard, who has been...