If the Indiana Pacers could nail down their late-game moves, they could be boasting a five-game winning streak.
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If the Indiana Pacers could nail down their late-game moves, they could be boasting a five-game winning streak. Instead, they’re bummed out about a couple of recent tight losses. They’re still holding onto the sixth seed in the jam-packed Eastern Conference as they get ready to take on the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night.
Indiana’s trying to catch up with the New York Knicks and Orlando Magic in the battle for fourth place and that sweet home-court advantage, at least for the first round of playoffs. They’re also sitting just ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat in the race to dodge the play-in game.
The Pacers have won seven out of their last twelve games, but their two most recent losses were really close. First, they fell short by just two points against the Minnesota Timberwolves on March 7, with Anthony Edwards blocking Aaron Nesmith’s last-second layup. Then, they couldn’t contain DeMar DeRozan and ended up losing to the Chicago Bulls 132-129 in overtime on Wednesday.
For the Pacers, Mathurin and McDermott will not be playing the game due to injuries. As for the Nets, Simmons and Whitehead will be sitting this one out.
Brooklyn’s got three games left against Indiana in their last 16 matches, and they’re gunning to overtake the 10th-place Atlanta Hawks for that last play-in spot. A couple of weeks back, the Nets managed to beat the Hawks when they won three out of four games at home. But their luck’s been rough on the road trip lately, with just one win out of three games so far. The road trip wraps up on Sunday against the San Antonio Spurs. After hosting the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday, they’ll hit the road again for a four-game stretch.
The Nets were on fire Sunday, delivering one of their top performances and completely owning the Cleveland Cavaliers in a 120-101 win. But their next game was a total letdown. On Wednesday, they couldn’t catch a break and ended up losing 114-106 to Orlando. They got off to a rough start with only 16 points in the first quarter and spent the rest of the game playing catch-up.
Cam Thomas put up 21 points and has been leading the scoring for Brooklyn in three games since coming back from a six-game break because of an ankle injury. But on the flip side, the Nets let the Magic shoot a solid 51.9 percent from the floor.
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