Suns at Pacers
The Indiana Pacers got some help from the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, when LeBron James was rested on the second night of a back-to-back, and came away with a 103-93 win to improve to 2-1 on their four-game homestand. The Pacers will try to clinch a winning homestand when they host the Phoenix Suns on Friday.
Indiana dropped the opener of the homestand 105-99 to the Boston Celtics on Saturday but turned up the defense en route to wins over the Dallas Mavericks and Cavaliers. "It's effort and coming up with more and more of those loose basketballs," Pacers small forward C.J. Miles told the team's website. "We didn’t change the way we guarded, we just had guys get after the ball and make the ball handler have to make decisions and guys just being in the right spots helping each other." The Suns are not playing that kind of defense, have yet to hold an opponent under 100 points and are allowing an average of 125 points during a three-game slide. Phoenix was outscored 61-43 in the first half at Denver on Wednesday and never recovered in a 120-104 setback.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona (Phoenix), FSN Indiana
ABOUT THE SUNS (3-9): Shooting guard Devin Booker was the only starter to score in double figures with 24 points on Wednesday as Phoenix's offense struggled to keep up with the breakdowns on defense. The most disappointing performance came from point guard Eric Bledsoe, who was held to eight points on 2-of-4 shooting in 34 minutes and recorded more turnovers (six) than assists (five). Bledsoe was also held to eight points (on 1-of-8 shooting) in a 122-104 home loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday and is 2-of-8 from 3-point range with nine turnovers during the three-game slide.
ABOUT THE PACERS (6-6): Indiana star small forward Paul George is still recovering from an ankle injury that kept him out of Saturday's loss to the Celtics but managed to deliver 21 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in Wednesday's triumph. George added two steals and a block and was quick to credit the increased focus on defense for the team's offensive success. "Our defense is allowing us to get into a good flow," George told reporters. "Every possession we're not coming down to a loaded defense. That's helped give us some efficiency on the offensive end."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Suns reserve G Brandon Knight scored a season-high 32 points on 12-of-20 shooting on Wednesday.
2. Pacers PF Thaddeus Young scored in double figures in each of the last four games and is 21-of-37 from the floor in that span.
3. Indiana took both meetings last season after Phoenix swept the two-game series in 2014-15.