Pacers at Wizards
THE STORY: The Indiana Pacers are hoping their last performance represented a turning point. After slogging through the previous six weeks and continually falling short against strong competition, the Pacers thoroughly dominated the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday. They’ll get a chance to snap a four-game road losing streak Thursday against the Washington Wizards, who are returning home after a six-game trip. The Wizards are coming off a rare win.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Indiana (Pacers), CS Washington (Wizards)
ABOUT THE PACERS (26-18): Tuesday’s 102-89 victory marked only the second time in the last 13 games against teams in the playoff hunt that Indiana had managed a win. The Pacers have had less trouble against the lower class, winning their last seven games against teams outside of the top eight in their respective conferences. The biggest difference Tuesday came on the defensive end, where Indiana limited the Clippers to 6 for 22 from beyond the arc and 43.5 percent overall. The Pacers had not held a winning team to less than 90 points since an 85-81 loss to the Orlando Magic on Feb. 4. Last in the NBA in assists, Indiana is giving more time to George Hill at point guard at the expense of Darren Collison.
ABOUT THE WIZARDS (11-34): Wednesday’s 108-89 triumph at New Jersey pushed Washington just in front of the New Orleans Hornets (11-35) in the race to avoid the league’s second-worst record. The Wizards were active at the trade deadline last week and finally got one of their new acquisitions, Nene, on the court Wednesday. The veteran center collected 22 points and 10 rebounds in his debut. Including Sunday’s 97-92 loss at Memphis, Washington has held opponents to less than 100 points in back-to-back games for the first time since Jan. 28 and 30.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Pacers center Jeff Foster retired Wednesday after 13 years with the team because of chronic back problems.
2. Wizards center Andray Blatche has been shut down to work on his conditioning.
3. Indiana took the final three meetings last season, averaging 114.7 points in the process.