Pacers at Hornets
THE STORY: The Indiana Pacers travel to New Orleans and will attempt to complete a sweep of the two-game season series with the Hornets on Saturday. Pacers center Roy Hibbert scored a career-high 30 points in Indiana’s 117-108 overtime win against the Hornets on Feb. 21. The Pacers are winners of five straight overall, but have dropped their last three contests in New Orleans. The Hornets are playing the second game of a back-to-back.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN (Indiana), CST (New Orleans)
ABOUT THE PACERS (22-12): None of the teams Indiana has faced in the last five games currently has a winning record. The four teams the Pacers have beaten during their five-game winning streak have a combined record of 37-99. Indiana plays four of its first five games in March on the road. After Saturday’s tilt with the Hornets, the Pacers’ schedule gets considerably tougher. The Pacers will travel to Chicago to take on the Central Division-leading Bulls, return home to play the Atlanta Hawks and then head to Florida to take on Southeast-leading Miami and Orlando in a back-to-back.
ABOUT THE HORNETS (9-27): With only nine players available because of injuries, the Hornets earned a 97-92 home victory Friday night against the defending champion Dallas Mavericks. Guard Xavier Henry netted a career-high 19 points for the shorthanded Hornets. New Orleans is 1-6 in the second game of back-to-backs this season and is facing an Indiana squad that has had three days of rest. The Hornets head out on a four-game West Coast road trip after Saturday’s game.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. With a 22-12 record that includes a mark of 11-8 on the road, the Pacers are off to their best overall start since they were 24-10 in the first 34 games of 2003-04.
2. The Pacers are 21-3 when scoring at least 90 points and have hit the century mark in four straight games for the first time this season.
3. The Hornets are winless in Saturday games this season (0-4).