Pacers at Hornets
The Indiana Pacers are 0-3 on the road and are allowing an average of 115.3 points away from home. The Pacers, who found some answers on the defensive end in a home win on Saturday, will try to solve their woes on the road when they visit the Charlotte Hornets on Monday.
Indiana lamented its effort on the defensive end after a 125-107 loss at Milwaukee on Thursday and was more active on that end while forcing the Chicago Bulls into 18 turnovers in a 111-94 home victory on Saturday. "I thought tonight we came out and were together," Pacers coach Nate McMillan told reporters after the win. "Collectively, defensively, we were solid from start to finish. We were really efficient with our offensive execution. It was a solid effort at both ends." The Hornets began playing tough defense at the start of the season and have yet to slack off, allowing 100 or more points once in the first five contests - a 104-98 loss to the Boston Celtics. Charlotte is holding opponents to 41.4 percent from the field - fourth best in the league - and is coming off a 99-95 win at Brooklyn on Friday.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Indiana, FSN Southeast (Charlotte)
ABOUT THE PACERS (3-3): Indiana All-Star forward Paul George was ejected with 1:42 left in the third quarter on Saturday for kicking a ball into the stands but the offense did not miss a beat thanks to point guard Jeff Teague's best effort of the young season. Teague, who entered the weekend shooting 24.6 percent, went 9-of-14 from the field and knocked down three 3-pointers on Saturday - one more than he managed in the first five contests combined. "It was about time I made a shot," Teague told the team's website. "It was good. My teammates gave me an opportunity and got me open. I made some shots, but it was all about our defense and getting back in transition and playing together."
ABOUT THE HORNETS (4-1): Kemba Walker extended his string of scoring 20 or more points to four straight games with a season-high 30 at Brooklyn and sees this year's squad as similar to the one that tied for the third-best record in the East last season. “We’re just building off of last year," Walker told the team's website. "I know we lost some guys but the guys we have, the guys that came in, they know what to do. They buy into what we want to do out here. They buy into what (coach Steve Clifford) wanted to do. We just try our best to play as hard as possible and try to win. That’s really it.” Walker is averaging 24.4 points while shooting 42.4 percent from 3-point range.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pacers reserve SF C.J. Miles is 20-of-33 from the floor in the last three games.
2. Hornets SF Marvin Williams is 9-of-35 from the field in the last three contests.
3. Charlotte took all three meetings last season.