Nets at Pacers
The Indiana Pacers need one more win to lock up a spot in the postseason and host the struggling Brooklyn Nets on Sunday. The Pacers missed out on a chance to clinch it themselves with a 111-98 setback at Toronto on Friday and watched the ninth place Chicago Bulls stay alive with a victory on Saturday night.
The loss to the Raptors snapped a three-game winning streak for Indiana, which is battling the Detroit Pistons for the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference. Toronto sat All-Stars DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry while giving forwards Luis Scola and DeMarre Carroll the night off as well, but the Pacers still could not find a way around the second unit. “We didn't play well enough in any area," Indiana coach Frank Vogel told reporters. "I don't think we respected the guys that were out there and we didn't bring it at a high enough level.” The Nets have been sitting starters Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young for the last week and have dropped seven straight.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), FSN Indiana
ABOUT THE NETS (21-58): Brooklyn cannot be accused of tanking for draft position since its unprotected first-round pick in June belongs to the Boston Celtics, but the absence of Lopez and Young gives the new front office a chance to look at what else is encouraging on the current roster. Power forward Thomas Robinson is running with the opportunity and recorded his sixth straight double-double in a loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Friday. Robinson is averaging 15.3 points and 13 rebounds in that span and grabbed 17 boards on Friday before fouling out.
ABOUT THE PACERS (42-37): Indiana sits in eighth place in the East, a half-game behind the Pistons, with three games remaining. All three of the remaining opponents – Brooklyn, New York and Milwaukee – have been out of the postseason race for most of the second half, and the Pacers are hoping to put up a better effort against those opponents than they displayed against Toronto’s second unit. "When we think as a group we’re making progress and progressing as a team, to have a letdown like (Friday) it’s frustrating,” All-Star Paul George told reporters.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Nets rookie F Chris McCullough made his first career start on Friday and scored 12 points.
2. Pacers SF Solomon Hill scored 16 points on Friday and needs 22 more to reach 1,000 for his career.
3. Indiana took the first two meetings but Brooklyn managed a 120-110 home win on March 26.