Thunder at Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are still hopeful of claiming the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, but the quality of the opponent could pose a problem on Sunday. Indiana hosts the Oklahoma City Thunder – the No. 2 team in the West – as it attempts to wrestle the top spot in the East away from the Miami Heat, who defeated the Pacers on Friday. Oklahoma City leads the Los Angeles Clippers by 2 1/2 games and can clinch the second seed with a victory.
The Thunder rolled to an easy 118-94 victory over the Pacers on Dec. 8 in the team’s first meeting of the season. Forward Kevin Durant scored 32 points as Oklahoma City shot 61 percent from the field, while Indiana shot just 40 percent despite receiving 32 points from forward Paul George. The Thunder have won three straight games after routing the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday. Indiana has lost eight of its last 11 and its quality of play has alarmingly dropped off after a strong showing over the first three-quarters of the campaign.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, ABC
ABOUT THE THUNDER (58-21): Power forward Serge Ibaka blocked a season-high eight shots and had 16 points and 10 rebounds in the 116-94 win over the Pelicans. The double-double was the 27th of the season for Ibaka and coach Scott Brooks beamed about his effort afterward. “Serge was spectacular,” Brooks said. “He’s right there with the best defensive players in the league. Blocked shots, he had eight, but he altered probably 10 others. And that’s what makes our defense good, when everybody is participating. When we do have a breakdown, he’s out there backing everybody up and covering for everybody’s mistakes.”
ABOUT THE PACERS (54-26): Center Roy Hibbert continued his recent disappearing act by grabbing one rebound in 34 minutes against the Heat. The 7-2, 290-pounder has been practically invisible recently and has just six total rebounds over his past four games. Hibbert is averaging 4.6 rebounds since the All-Star break after averaging 7.7 before it and has reached double digits on the boards just once over the past six-plus weeks. “We’ve got to get more from him,” Indiana coach Frank Vogel said after the loss to Miami. A recent benching of the starting five came after Hibbert was pulled following nine ineffective minutes on April 4, which means the big man had nearly a full week of rest leading into his latest poor effort.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Oklahoma City has won five of the past six meetings.
2. Pacers PG George Hill was scoreless in 33 minutes against Miami and is averaging just 7.3 points over his last eight appearances.
3. Thunder PG Russell Westbrook is averaging 27 points on 22-of-41 shooting over the past two games.