Pacers at Hornets
After returning from a 14-game absence Wednesday, Lance Stephenson will play his former team for the second time when the Indiana Pacers visit the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday. The swingman returned from a pelvic sprain and scored eight points in 19 minutes in the 98-93 loss to San Antonio as Charlotte had its season-long five-game win streak snapped. The Pacers, who beat Charlotte 88-86 in Stephenson's return to Indiana on Nov. 19, have dropped three straight after winning seven of 11.
Stephenson signed a two-year, $18 million contract with the Hornets with a team option for a third year after a breakout 2013-14 season with the Pacers, but he is shooting just 39 percent and his effort and energy have drawn criticism from coach Steve Clifford. "When I was out, I watched people share the ball and play without negative energy," Stephenson told reporters. "So I don't want to play with any negative energy and bring everybody down." The subject of trade talk prior to the injury, Stephenson can't escape it now, as he was rumored to be part of a three-team deal Thursday, which later fell apart, that had him returning to his native Brooklyn to play for the Nets.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Indiana, SportSouth (Charlotte)
ABOUT THE PACERS (15-26): Indiana had an 11-point second-half lead Friday, but Brandon Jennings followed Minnesota point guard Mo Williams' 52 points with 37 as Detroit rallied for a 98-96 victory on Andre Drummond's follow shot with three-tenths of a second remaining. Roy Hibbert scored 14 points and rookie Damjan Rudez added a season-high 13. The Pacers beat the Hornets in Indiana when Solomon Hill tipped in Rodney Stuckey’s deflected shot at the last second.
ABOUT THE HORNETS (15-25): In his last six contests, Kemba Walker is in the midst of the best stretch of his four-year career, averaging 29.8 points on 47.4 percent shooting, 5.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists. He averaged 14.3 points on 36-percent shooting in his first 20 games and 24 points per game on 44.2-percent shooting in his last 20. Center Al Jefferson has missed eight games with a groin injury but 22-year-old Bismack Biyombo has 26 points, 27 rebounds and six blocks in 50 minutes over the past two games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Walker is the first player in the NBA this season to score 28 or more points in six straight games.
2. Indiana has won 15 of its last 17 games against Charlotte.
3. Hornets F P.J. Hairston was fined $5,000 by the NBA on Thursday for violating the league's anti-flopping rules for the second time this season in Wednesday's game against the Spurs.