Hornets at Pacers
The Indiana Pacers got a look at how far away they are from the top teams in the Eastern Conference when they were pounded 127-81 at Toronto on Sunday. The Pacers will try to figure out what went wrong and get back in the win column when they return home to host the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday.
Indiana dropped seven of its last nine games overall but came out of the All-Star break with a win at New York before heading to Toronto and shooting 32.6 percent from the floor in its most lopsided loss of the season. "That's a wakeup call, man," Pacers coach Nate McMillan told reporters. "I mean, that team is playing for something big and they showed us what February, March, April, if you can get into May and June, what it's going to look like, and what you got to play against. They jumped on us, they came with the intensity, they play with a sense of urgency. That team is connected out there. We're back on our heels from the start of this game. Its NBA basketball, and we got to get to that level." The Hornets can relate to that type of disappointment after getting run off the floor in a 115-86 setback at home against Brooklyn on Saturday, snapping a three-game winning streak. Charlotte is attempting to make a run at one of the final two playoff spots in the East and put together three road wins against sub-.500 competition before falling short against a team ahead of it in the standings.
TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: FS Southeast, FS Indiana, SN1/E
ABOUT THE HORNETS (19-37): Point guard Devonte' Graham went into the All-Star break leading the team in scoring at an average of 18.1 points and was one of the team's three representatives in the Rising Stars Challenge during All-Star weekend but has not been able to find his shot since returning. The Kansas product went 0-of-7 from the floor in a 103-93 triumph at Chicago on Thursday - his first scoreless effort of the season - and was 1-of-10 in 27 minutes during Saturday's setback. Having less difficulty finding the net is center Cody Zeller, who is 12-of-17 from the floor over the last two games after connecting on 5-of-21 in his previous three outings.
ABOUT THE PACERS (33-24): Indiana managed 12 points on 4-of-23 shooting in the first quarter on Sunday and never recovered, going into the half down 31 points and trailing by as many as 49 points in the fourth quarter. "We just didn't come out ready to play," All-Star forward Domantas Sabonis, who collected his 43rd double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds in the loss, told reporters. "We were getting open looks. We just weren't converting, even easy ones under the basket. We're professionals. We have to show up. We just didn't do it." Indiana is 3-7 in 10 games since former All-Star guard Victor Oladipo (quad tendon) made his season debut but Oladipo was not around to take the blame on Sunday and is day-to-day with back soreness.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pacers SG Jeremy Lamb (knee) left Sunday's game and is unlikely to play Tuesday.
2. Charlotte PF PJ Washington is averaging 16.5 points over the last two games after scoring in single digits in each of his first four games in February.
3. Indiana took two of the first three meetings, including a 107-85 home victory on Dec. 15.