Celtics at Pacers
The Indiana Pacers have removed themselves from the ranks of the winless, and they did so in impressive fashion. The Pacers will now aim for their first winning streak of the season when they host the Boston Celtics on Wednesday in the second half of a back-to-back.
Rodney Stuckey broke out for a season-high 23 points off the bench and four others hit double figures as Indiana avoided its first 0-4 start since 1988-89 with a 94-82 victory in Detroit on Tuesday. The Pacers were just 5-12 on the second half of back-to-backs last season, including a loss in the final meeting with Boston on April 1, and are 0-1 in such scenarios in the current campaign. The Celtics have dropped two in a row following a season-opening win at home over Philadelphia, but managed to take three of four meetings with the Pacers in 2014-15. The teams play a return date the following Wednesday in Boston.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CSN New England (Boston), FSN Indiana
ABOUT THE CELTICS (1-2): Boston is hopeful that guard Avery Bradley is ready to go after being limited in practice Tuesday due to a sprained wrist and jammed fingers, and Bradley hopes his fellow starters can step up after some lackluster efforts. "They own us right now," Bradley told ESPN about practicing against the team's second unit. "It helps us improve and we know what we need to get better at and that’s the best thing about it." The starting backcourt of Bradley and Marcus Smart combined for 35 points in the loss to the Spurs, but the starters along the front line had a total of nine points on 4-of-18 shooting with seven turnovers.
ABOUT THE PACERS (1-3): Indiana has an injury concern of its own after losing center Ian Mahinmi just five minutes into Tuesday's win with a back issue. That gave Jordan Hill (10 points, six rebounds) and Myles Turner (six points, three blocks) more run off the bench, and the former - who started two games ago at Memphis - is a candidate to get the starting nod against Boston if Mahinmi cannot recover. The Pacers are in the early stages of a stretch in which they play five games in seven days, including a later visit to Cleveland.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pacers PG George Hill averaged 25.5 points on 69 percent shooting in two games against the Celtics last season.
2. Boston's bench has outscored its opponents' reserves by a 171-90 margin.
3. Including the preseason, Celtics PF David Lee is 11-for-43 from the field over his last six games.