Pacers at Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers finally stumbled on Friday and ended up with their third loss. The Clippers will try not to let that one setback snowball into another when they make the third stop on a six-game road trip by visiting the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.
Friday's 108-97 loss at Detroit marked Los Angeles' first road loss of the season and dropped it out of the top spot in the Western Conference. The Clippers were setting the pace in the NBA in terms of scoring defense with an average of 88.3 points allowed through the first eight games but watched that number grow to 106.2 over the last nine contests. The Pacers struggled to put up much of a fight on either end in back-to-back home losses before turning things around with a 118-97 drubbing of the struggling Brooklyn Nets on Friday. "We had fun," Indiana small forward Glenn Robinson III told the team's website. "We had fun playing (Friday). We want to play like that every night."
TV: 6 p.m. ET, Prime Ticket (Los Angeles), FSN Indiana
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (14-3): Los Angeles shooting guard J.J. Redick was one of the few on the team that did not get off to a hot start this season but is making up for lost time of late. The 32-year-old Duke product scored 18 of his 24 points in the third quarter on Friday to reach 20 or more for the fourth time in the last six contests. "He's great at what he does," Pistons guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who had the defensive assignment on Redick Friday, told reporters. "He uses screens well. He always moves without the ball. Sometimes it's just hard to stay with him."
ABOUT THE PACERS (8-9): Robinson began to earn more playing time with star small forward Paul George hobbled by ankle and back injuries and is embracing the opportunity. Robinson led Indiana with 20 points on Friday and will likely be in the starting lineup again on Sunday with George expected to remain sidelined. "Anytime I see Glenn playing well, it gives me energy," Pacers center Myles Turner told reporters. "It gets me excited. It gets me going. I love it when Glenn's making an impact."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pacers swingman C.J. Miles (left knee) missed the last four games and is not expected to play on Sunday.
2. Los Angeles SG Jamal Crawford is 6-of-22 from 3-point range in the last four games.
3. The teams split two meetings last season, with each winning on the road.