Jazz at Pacers
Few matchups better display how quickly fortunes can change in the NBA than Monday's clash between the Indiana Pacers and the Utah Jazz. The Jazz aim for a second straight road win and look to get to .500 for the first time since the end of the 2012-13 season when they visit Indiana, which has dropped six straight. Utah got 10 straight points down the stretch from Gordon Hayward in a 97-96 win at Detroit on Sunday for its third victory, which it didn't pick up until Nov. 30 last season.
Indiana erased most of a 22-point deficit last time out before losing 97-90 to visiting Washington. After losing star Paul George to a broken leg this summer, the hits keep coming for the Pacers, who also are without starters David West and George Hill and key reserves Rodney Stuckey and C.J. Watson because of injuries, while star center Roy Hibbert and reserve C.J. Miles are day-to-day with ailments of their own. The Pacers swept two meetings last season and have won four of the past five against Utah.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, ROOT (Utah), FSN Indiana
ABOUT THE JAZZ (3-4): Utah's resurgence is due in large part to Hayward's growth into a bona fide star, as evidenced by his buzzer-beater to defeat Cleveland last week and his fourth-quarter takeover against the Pistons. "It shows a lot that he can have an average game for three quarters and then show up when it counts," first-year Jazz coach Quin Snyder told reporters. "That's one of the strengths of this team." Utah also has been tough in the post, and both Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter posted double-doubles against Detroit.
ABOUT THE PACERS (1-6): With so many offensive weapons injured, Indiana is leaning on journeyman Chris Copeland (16.7 points, 5.9 rebounds) to carry the scoring load and hardly looks like the team that had the best record in the Eastern Conference a year ago. Fourth-year point guard Donald Sloan (15.1 points, 5.4 assists) is putting up impressive numbers, and second-year swingman Solomon Hill (12 points, 5.1 rebounds) is coming of age quickly and put up a career-high 28 points against the Wizards, but the Pacers don't have much of a healthy supporting cast. "We're asking too much of guys that are not used to carrying this load," Indiana coach Frank Vogel told the team's website. "They've just got to do their best with it and hopefully it results in some wins. We're just trying to weather the storm."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Copeland has scored in double figures in a career-best six straight games.
2. Jazz SG Alec Burks has scored in double figures in all seven games this season and 36 of his last 37 dating to last season.
3. Indiana's six-game skid is its longest since 2010-11; the Pacers haven't dropped seven straight since 2009-10.