Hickory Indiana Pacers face the Sacramento Kings at BLF
Tonight, the Hickory Indiana Pacers face the Sacramento Kings at Bankers Life Fieldhouse looking to improve to 5-1 at home following a tough road spurt.
WHO: Indiana Pacers (16-11) v. Sacramento Kings (11-17)
WHEN: Tonight, 7 pm ET / 6 pm CT
WHERE: Bankers Life Fieldhouse (Indianapolis, IN)
TV: FSI
RADIO: 1070 the Fan
STREAM: FSGO
The Pacers
After another slip up on the road the Indiana Pacers have work to do at home, and it begins tonight against the Sacramento Kings.
Paul George had his worst performance in recent memory against the San Antonio Spurs. Despite sniffing a triple-double with 7 points, 6 boards, and 7 assists, his 1-14 shooting combined with feeling the effects of recovering from an upper respiratory infection drastically changed the outlook of the game.
Tonight, George will be called upon to switch off Omri Casspi and Rudy Gay after a couple of days rest. But, the biggest challenge tonight for Indiana is their rotation of bigs in charge of limiting DeMarcus Cousins. Lavoy Allen and Ian Mahinmi have gotten the starting nods lately, but Jordan Hill has been the most consistently productive big men nearly averaging a double-double in the last month.
The Kings
Sacramento is in an interesting spot, being a few games from .500 with an impressive offense. The Kings rank 3rd in the league in points per game, 6th in 3PT%, and 5th in assists per game, but also are in the top five in turnovers per game.
Rajon Rondo leads the league in assists per game to help with the above mentioned, his 11.1 per being well above joint-second place Russell Westbrook and John Wall (9.4). That, along with his 12.4 points per game average, puts him solidly at a double-double each game. In the scoring department, though, Cousins and Gay lead the way as expected with 24.5 and 18.2 points per respectively.
The problem for Sacramento is on the defensive end. They are third from the bottom in opponent points per game, and like the Pacers, are struggling on the road. In the last six games, Sac has only won one on the road but are 4-1 at home in the last five.
With Indiana at home and both teams struggling on the road, the Pacers are tipped as favorites for tonight’s game. If the Kings can find a way to attack Indiana down low, the Pacers may have a bigger fight in store than previously thought. However, with Sacramento burying themselves defensively the game favors a high-scoring Indiana team.
Tipoff for tonight’s game set for 7 pm ET.