Nets at Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are peaking offensively just as they get ready to face the team with the worst scoring defense in the NBA. The Pacers will try to take advantage of that suspect defense when they host the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday.
Indiana reached .500 with its third straight win on Tuesday as it ran up 121 points on the Eastern Conference's best scoring defense - the Detroit Pistons - in a five-point victory. "We’re showing that we can score," Pacers coach Nate McMillan told reporters after his team clinched its first three-game winning streak of the season on Tuesday. "We just need to focus on defending, executing, moving the ball to the open guy." The Nets struggle to defend while allowing opponents an average of 114 points but are also enduring problems on the offensive end during a three-game slide in which they failed to reach 100 points in each of the three contests. "Our offense wasn’t great." Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters after a 101-89 loss to the Utah Jazz on Monday. "I am sure we will look at it and say, ‘Man, we could have shared it a little better. We could have made the extra pass.'"
TV: 7 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), FSN Indiana
ABOUT THE NETS (8-25): Brooklyn owns the worst record in the NBA but came out of Monday's loss feeling better about its effort after a player's-only meeting followed a 118-95 setback at Washington in the previous game. "You can’t fault our effort and the way we played for the most part," center Brook Lopez told reporters. "I think we absolutely had each other’s backs and we were there for one another. Our defense definitely gave us a shot." Lopez is part of the offensive struggles of late and is 9-of-25 from the floor, including 2-of-11 from 3-point range, in the last two games.
ABOUT THE PACERS (18-18): Indiana was forced to find new lineup combinations when Monta Ellis missed eight games with a groin strain, and the team is settling in with Glenn Robinson III taking over the starting shooting guard spot and Ellis coming off the bench in four games since his return. Ellis delivered 16 points on 6-of-6 shooting in 20 minutes on Tuesday as the reserves accounted for 39 points. "I think we’re well balanced, our starting lineup and our backup lineup," star forward Paul George told reporters. "We have a lot of firepower in our starting group. Now with Monta (Ellis) going to that second group and adding Kevin (Seraphin) to it, it’s a different dynamic for that group. ... It’s great for our starting lineup, it’s great for our backups. We get a little bit of the best of both worlds in both of those lineups."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. George scored over 30 points in three of the last four games.
2. Nets PG Jeremy Lin (hamstring) sat out the last three games and there is no timetable for his return.
3. Indiana fell at Brooklyn on Oct. 28 but avenged that loss with a 118-97 home win on Nov. 25.