Bennedict Mathurin

After playing 34 minutes in Friday's win over the Bulls, Thompson moves into the Pacers' starting lineup. His promotion comes at the expense of Garrison Mathews, whose limited fantasy value takes a hit with the move to the bench. The other four starters are unchanged.

For the first time since the Pacers' first two games of the season, Mathurin has scored at least 25 points in back-to-back games. He was efficient against the Kings, posting solid percentages and committing only one turnover. Over the past two weeks, Mathurin has provided seventh-round per-game game value in eight-cat formats. The good news for fantasy managers is that the Pacers still have two more games to play in Week 8, starting with the 76ers on Friday.

Mathurin started the season by scoring at least 20 points in five straight games. He followed that up with 14 and 15 points on sub-40 percent shooting over Indiana's previous two games before getting back on track in this one. Mathurin had high expectations entering this season with Tyrese Haliburton (Achilles) sidelined, and he should be able to supply plenty of buckets for the remainder of the year.

Sheppard and Huff will enter the starting unit in place of Andrew Nembhard (quad) and Isaiah Jackson. Sheppard will get the nod instead of T.J. McConnell, though McConnell should still see a bump in minutes. Huff will replace Jackson as the starting center, though both should continue to split the minutes down low.

After scoring at least 21 points in his first three games back from injury, Mathurin's production has slowed down over the last two. Against the Pistons and Raptors, he totaled 29 points on 8-of-28 shooting from the field. While most players would be able to point to three-point shooting as the reason for their woes, that has not been the case for Mathurin, who has gone 3-of-15 (20 percent) from two over this two-game stretch. However, Friday's game against the Wizards could be the slump-buster for Mathurin, given Washington's poor defense.