What: Charlotte Hornets (3-5) (2-3 home) vs Indiana Pacers (4-4) (2-3 away)
When: 7:00pm Eastern
Where: Spectrum Center; Charlotte, NC
How to watch: FanDuel Sports Network, NBA League Pass
Outfitting: Hornets–Icon (teal), Pacers–Statement (yellow)
Game Lines: Hornets +6.5, Hornets money line +210, O/U 233.5
Injuries:
Hornets: Brandon Miller-probable (shoulder), Grant Williams-probable (back), Miles Bridges-out (knee), Mark Williams-out (foot), Nick Richards-out (ribs), DaQuan Jeffries-out (hand)
Pacers: TJ McConnell-questionable (illness), Aaron Nesmith-out (ankle), Isaiah Jackson-out (achilles), James Wiseman-out (achilles),
The Pacers have stumbled out of the gate relative to last season’s breakout season thanks to a pretty brutal open to their schedule. They’ll probably see the Hornets as a respite from a five game stretch of games where they played the Celtics, Pelicans, Mavericks, and Magic (twice). Their season has been a bit strange. They’re one of only two teams to beat the Celtic,s but they’re also the only team to lose to the 76ers. Any given night.
The match-up to watch when these two teams play is always the one between LaMelo Ball and Tyrese Haliburton. The two are draft classmates with similar profiles as oversized point guards. Haliburton was a breakout star last year and established himself as one of the league’s better up and coming players while Ball was out for most of his second straight season with ankle issues. So far this season, LaMelo has flipped the script.
Haliburton has struggled to assert himself as much since the Pacers acquired Pascal Siakam in the middle of last season. His scoring and assisting are both way down, and he’s shooting sub-40% from the field and sub-30% from three so far this season. That probably means he’s due to go nuts against the Hornets.
Meanwhile LaMelo is having his best season to date. His 28.7 points per game are seventh in the league. His assist and rebound numbers are down, but that seems to be by design as the team leans on him for his shot making. He’s tied for second in the NBA in 3-pointers made per game.
Outside of Haliburton, Siakam has been the biggest problem on the Pacers. He’s averaging a tick under 20 points per game and filling out the rest of the stat sheet like he always has. The Pacers have been bad when he’s not on the floor. Myles Turner has kept up his improved form from last year, and Bennedict Mathurin has had a pretty strong start to the season.
This has the making of a points-fest. The Hornets just climbed out of the basement in terms of defensive rating after a good game against the Pistons. The Pacers have been regulars in that area since last season. Neither team looks poised to get a lot of stops, so that means points, points, points.
