Jazz at Pacers
The Indiana Pacers were hoping a new focus on the offensive end would not negatively impact their defense this season, but so far the results have not been good. The Pacers will try to secure their first win of the 2015-16 campaign when they host the Utah Jazz on Saturday.
Indiana surrendered an average of 109 points in back-to-back losses to start the season, including a combined 131 in the second halves. "We're so caught up with the new offense – the spacing, where we need to be – that we've been forgetting about defense," center Ian Mahinmi told the team’s website. "It showed big-time the last two games. I ain't going to lie to you, it has to be a priority now." The Pacers could learn a thing or two on the defensive end from the Jazz, who held the Philadelphia 76ers to 30.2 percent shooting in a 99-71 drubbing on Friday. Utah led the NBA in scoring defense last season, surrendering an average of 94.9 points, and held its first two opponents this season to an average of 81.5.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, ROOT Rocky Mountain (Utah), FSN Indiana
ABOUT THE JAZZ (1-1): Utah began the season with a 92-87 loss at Detroit on Wednesday but bounced back nicely by draining 7-of-13 from 3-point range and forcing 19 turnovers against the 76ers. The Jazz are trying to coax more scoring out of center Rudy Gobert (a total of 14 points in the first two games) but will settle for his presence on the defensive end, where he has totaled nine blocked shots and 23 rebounds so far. Power forward Derrick Favors is leading the way with an average of 23 points and nine boards.
ABOUT THE PACERS (0-2): Indiana morphed from a big team concentrated around Paul George, Roy Hibbert and David West to an up-tempo squad in the offseason following the departures of Hibbert and West. George and new guard Monta Ellis are getting the bulk of the scoring opportunities thus far, but are a combined 15-of-55 from the field. "I'm confident in who we are and who we can be,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel told reporters. “We have a lot of new faces to our system and we're learning each other. There's going to be some bumps in the road. We anticipated that."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pacers G George Hill (19.5 points) is leading the team in scoring and is 8-of-15 from 3-point range.
2. Utah rookie PF Trey Lyles is scoreless on 0-of-4 shooting in his first two games.
3. Indiana has taken four straight and six of seven in the series.