What: Charlotte Hornets (10-37) (5-18 home) vs Indiana Pacers (27-23) (11-13 away)
When: 6:00pm Eastern
Where: Spectrum Center; Charlotte, NC
How to watch: Bally Sports Southeast, NBA League Pass
Outfitting: Hornets–City (teal/mint), Pacers–Association (white)
Game Lines: Hornets +9.5, O/U 242.5
Injuries:
Hornets: Frank Ntilikina-questionable (hip), LaMelo Ball-out (ankle), Mark Williams-out (back), Gordon Hayward-out (calf)
Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton-questionable (hamstring), Myles Turner-questionable (ankle), Bennedict Mathurin-questionable (toe), Jalen Smith-questionable (back)
The Pacers took a big swing and brought in Pascal Siakam to try to firmly establish themselves as a playoff team in the Eastern Conference. It has not gone to plan so far. They’re 3-6 in nine games with him in the lineup including an 0-4 record with both he and Haliburton in the lineup. To be fair, Haliburton was limited by his hamstring injury in most of those games, but still, early returns on the trade have not been great on the surface.
All that said, it doesn’t seem to be a Siakam problem. The Pacers have been 21.9 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor. And it’s not like they’ve been getting blown out. Five of the six losses with Siakam were by single digits. They’re just feeling the new lineup out.
They may take an opportunity against a hapless Hornets team to rest some of their walking wounded. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tyrese Haliburton rests given he’s trying to overcome a soft tissue injury. Even if any combination of their questionable players don’t play, they’ll be better armed than the Hornets.
The Hornets won the first meeting between the two teams when LaMelo Ball put the clamps on Haliburton on the final possession to secure the 125-124 win. LaMelo didn’t play in the rematch and the Pacers thoroughly outclassed the Hornets. They outscored the Hornets 73-53 in the second half and were never really threatened.
This meeting seems more likely to go the route of the second one than the first. The Hornets are still hurting and the play of the healthy players has deteriorated to complete non-competitiveness.
If there’s any chance for the Hornets to win this game, it’s because the Pacers are the worst team in the league at allowing points in the paint and one of the worst teams in the league at allowing second chance points. The Hornets have been relentless attacking the basket even if their means of getting there aren’t efficient. If Myles Turner doesn’t play, the Hornets have a chance to rack up points at the basket.
If Haliburton doesn’t play, the Pacers won’t pack quite the offensive punch. Still, their fast paced ball movement is going to cause all sorts of problems for the Hornets disorganized defense.
