Spurs at Pacers
When the San Antonio Spurs meet the Indiana Pacers on Monday in Indianapolis, they'll face a much different team than they did 2 1/2 months ago. The Spurs beat Indiana 106-100 back on November 26, but the Pacers were without George Hill, David West, C.J. Watson, Roy Hibbert and Paul George. All but George have since returned from their injuries and Hill and West currently lead Indiana in scoring.
San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich missed the previous game against the Pacers after he underwent a medical procedure, and he’ll be looking for his 1,000th career victory after coming up short in an 87-82 loss Sunday night at the Toronto Raptors in the opener of a nine-game, three-week road trip. Hill sank a floater with 4.9 seconds left Sunday as the Pacers knocked off the Charlotte Hornets 103-102 for their season-best third straight win.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest, FSN Indiana
ABOUT THE SPURS (32-19): Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili combined to shoot 10-for-40 from field as San Antonio shot a season-low 33.3 percent against Toronto. Ginobili appeared to take a knee to his thigh in the final seconds and Popovich hasn’t hesitated to rest Duncan and Parker in back-to-back situations, so it will be interesting to see which players take the floor against Indiana. Ginobili scored his current season high of 28 points in the earlier game against the Pacers, but that was against a patchwork lineup.
ABOUT THE PACERS (20-32): Indiana is officially the hottest team in the Eastern Conference with its three straight wins. Those victories, coupled with three straight losses by the Miami Heat, have pulled the Pacers within two games of the eighth and final playoff spot, but the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics are also two games back, with the Brooklyn Nets sitting ninth with the same 21-29 mark as the Heat. Watson could be a key factor against San Antonio as he scored 22 against the Hornets and he could take advantage of San Antonio’s lack of depth behind Parker at the point guard position.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Hill was traded to Indiana in June 2011 in exchange for Kawhi Leonard, who was drafted 15th overall by the Pacers earlier that month.
2. Duncan has 822 games with double figures in points and rebounds, fifth all-time in the NBA and 63 behind fourth-place Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
3. The Spurs have won 13 of the last 14 meetings against Indiana.