Pacers face Hornets tonight in final preseason game

The Indiana Pacers are back in action tonight for the final time before the season begins, this time against the Charlotte Hornets in Fort Wayne.

After suffering just their second loss of the preseason in Chicago on Tuesday, the Pacers face a quick turnaround tonight against Charlotte at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, the home of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. The Hornets are coming off a 99-94 win over the Detroit Pistons last night in the Palace and are 7-0 heading into tonight’s game.

It’s preseason so it doesn’t matter much, but an undefeated Hornets team will certainly want to keep the streak going tonight and have a chance against Indiana in an unfamiliar venue. The Allen Country War Memorial Coliseum isn’t small, seating around 13,000, but should be full of Blue & Gold as Indiana looks to wrap things up the right way.

For Indiana, after coming off the bench on Tuesday, C.J. Miles is expected to be back in the starting five along with George Hill, Ellis, PG, and Ian Mahinmi. Paul George put in a good shift against the Bulls in 35 minutes, coming away with 26 points and 13 rebounds and will be a central part of Indiana’s success tonight.

The Hornets don’t often sport a small starting five – Kemba Walker, new Hornet Nicolas Batum, Marvin Williams, Indiana favorite Cody Zeller, and one of the best centers in the game now in Al Jefferson. George will most likely match up with Marvin Williams as the Hornets look to exploit Indiana on the perimeter.

Guarding Charlotte won’t be easy by any means. In fact, for a team that was trending downwards last season, they’ve come back in a pretty big way and now present a challenge to many teams by starting a true point guard, two small forwards, a power forward, and a true center. Tonight will be much the same. George Hill will have his hands full with the shift but inconsistent Kemba Walker, but the real challenge is for Monta Ellis and C.J. Miles who will be up against Nicolas Batum and Marvin Williams/Cody Zeller depending on how coach Frank Vogel sets up his defensive scheme.

Regardless, tonight will offer plenty of intriguing match-ups and a final chance to see Indiana shape things up before the season opens against Toronto next Tuesday. Tonight’s game is set to tipoff at 7 pm ET with both radio and TV coverage available.

Injury report:
Pacers – Jordan Hill (questionable)
Hornets – Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (out), Elliot Williams (out)

UPDATE: Coach Vogel reports that Monta Ellis will be out tonight with an upper respiratory infection, per the Pacers Twitter.

Next: Pacers fall to Chicago in penultimate preseason game

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