Trail Blazers at Pacers
THE STORY: Now that the Indiana Pacers are facing an opponent with a
sub-.500 record, maybe they can grab a victory. The Pacers have not
beaten a winning team since Feb. 3, and enter Tuesday’s contest with the
visiting Portland Trail Blazers having dropped four straight - all to
Eastern Conference playoff contenders. The Blazers are only one game
under .500 but have lost five of their last seven. Portland is at the
midway point of a seven-game road trip, with the lone victory coming at
the lowly Washington Wizards.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CS Northwest (Trail Blazers), FS Indiana (Pacers)
ABOUT THE BLAZERS (20-21): Portland has not beaten a winning team
since Feb. 21 and was crushed soundly in the first two games of its
road trip, dropping a 106-94 decision at Minnesota last Wednesday and
falling behind by 35 at the half before losing at Boston 104-86 on
Friday. The team showed signs of life against the defenseless Wizards on
Saturday as Felton had his best game in weeks with 21 points, five
assists and zero turnovers, and LaMarcus Aldridge went off for 30 points
and 10 boards. Portland is 6-14 on the road.
ABOUT THE PACERS (23-16): Indiana has sandwiched a pair of lengthy
skids around a six-game winning steak, but the run came against some of
the worst teams in the NBA. “We beat up on bad teams but just can’t
compete against the good teams,” forward David West said after a 107-94
loss to the Orlando Magic. “Games we’ve had against playoff-caliber
teams, we’ve lost them. That’s the measure of where we are.” One of the
better defensive teams in the league at the beginning of the season, the
Pacers have surrendered an average of 100.4 points in their last nine
losses.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Indiana will face playoff hopefuls Philadelphia, New York (twice) and the Los Angeles Clippers in the next four games.
2. Aldridge is averaging 24.7 points on 68.1 percent shooting in the first three games of the road trip.
3. Indiana snapped a five-game losing streak in the series with a 100-87 victory on Feb. 4, 2011.