Pacers at Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are beginning to get noticed and have joined the conversation along with the Golden State Warriors as the best teams in the NBA. The Indiana Pacers looked a lot like one of the best teams in the league during November but have been more inconsistent this month, and they will try to avoid another loss when they visit the Spurs on Monday.
San Antonio ran its latest winning streak to five straight and improved to 15-0 at home with a 115-107 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday. The triumph marked a rare down night for the league’s top scoring defense (88.9), but 26 points and 13 rebounds from LaMarcus Aldridge gave the offense enough spark to complete a fourth-quarter comeback. The Pacers had a three-game winning streak come to an end when they shot 39 percent in a 96-84 loss at Memphis to open a two-game road trip. “We have to limit our turnovers,” Indiana guard Monta Ellis told reporters. “Some of those shots we had wide open and we turned it right over."
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FSN Indiana, FSN Southwest (San Antonio)
ABOUT THE PACERS (16-10): Indiana shot 41 percent from 3-point range while going 11-2 in November but has slumped to 33.5 percent during its 5-5 December. The Pacers knocked down just 5-of-28 from beyond the arc at Memphis, including a 0-of-5 effort from C.J. Miles. "I thought he had some good looks, a couple that weren't good looks,” coach Frank Vogel told reporters of Miles. “It was just one of those nights. He's been red hot for us, he had an off-night tonight."
ABOUT THE SPURS (23-5): San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich claims not to like the 3-pointer but his team ranks second in the league in 3-point percentage (37.6) while holding opponents to 30.8 percent beyond the arc – also second in the NBA. The Spurs knocked down 10-of-19 from 3-point range in the win over the Clippers, including Tony Parker’s 3-of-3 effort. Parker is averaging 16.3 points on 20-of-37 shooting in the last three contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. San Antonio has taken three straight and 14 of the last 15 in the series.
2. Miles is 5-of-22 from 3-point range in the last three games.
3. Spurs F Kawhi Leonard is averaging 22.5 points in the last four games.