Nets at Pacers
THE STORY: After a three-game road trip, the Indiana Pacers are home for a one-game stay against the New Jersey Nets on Tuesday before heading out for two more on the road. Indiana has lived out of its suitcase for the past two weeks and will have played eight of its last 10 games on the road by the time it wraps up in Dallas on Friday. While the Pacers are holding their own as guests, they are 5-1 as hosts. The Nets are happy to get away from the Garden State after the effort they gave fans Sunday. The Nets lacked energy on both ends of the floor and fell 94-73 to Toronto. It marked the fifth time New Jersey has scored in the 70s this season and came on the heels of an offensive explosion, in which the team averaged 98 points over a three-game road trip. Indiana won at New Jersey 108-94 on Jan. 2, its eighth straight victory against the Nets.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, YES (New Jersey), FS Indiana
ABOUT THE NETS (7-14): Point guard Deron Williams blasted his team following the loss to Toronto, saying the Nets were complacent after picking up three wins in their last four heading into Sunday. Williams has every right to be mad. He has carried the team in recent outings and scored 24 points against Toronto. Anthony Morrow was the only other starter to score in double figures with 14. Kris Humphries, Sheldon Williams and DeShawn Stevenson – the other three starters - combined for only five points. Outside of Williams, the Nets shot 19 of 54 from the field (35 percent).
ABOUT THE PACERS (13-6): The Pacers got a huge lift from their bench in a 106-85 road victory over Orlando on Sunday. The reserves outscored the Magic’s bench 42-16, getting 16 of those points from George Hill. Indiana coach Frank Vogel voiced just how important the bench will be this season, especially with the team playing three games in four nights this week. Indiana’s points off the pine have been about par for the league, getting 28.6 points from the reserves per game. However, when you consider that the bench logs just under 17 minutes per game – seventh fewest in the NBA – it's obvious just how potent the Pacers’ backups are. Indiana is 10-1 when its bench outscores its opponents.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Indiana leads the all-time series 87-64, going back to the ABA-NBA merger in the 1976-77 season.
2. The Nets are playing without their two top centers. Brook Lopez is out with a broken foot and Mehmet Okur is questionable for Tuesday with back spasms.
3. The Pacers own an average margin of victory of 15.3 points during their eight-game winning streak over the Nets. Indiana has topped the 100-point mark in all but one of those games.