Preview: San Antonio Spurs at Indiana Pacers – Game #56
DeMar DeRozan will return against the Indiana Pacers (Photo via Twitter)
The San Antonio Spurs will look to build upon their momentum tonight against the Indiana Pacers. Last game, the Spurs had their most impressive win of the season, a 111-85 victory over the Phoenix Suns. Playing without DeMar DeRozan, Patty Mills and Jakob Poeltl, the Spurs grabbed the lead in the first quarter and never let the Suns back into it.
This is the second game of a mini two-game road trip. San Antonio’s mastery on the road continues to impress. After the win over the Suns, the Spurs are now 15-10 on the road. That’s especially impressive considering they are just 12-18 at home.
With a record of 27-28, the Spurs are tied with the Golden State Warriors for the ninth seed in the Western Conference. The eleventh-seeded New Orleans Pelicans have lost three straight games and they’re now three games behind both the Spurs and the Warriors.
The Pacers, 26-30, are alone in the ninth speed in the Eastern Conference. They’ve been streaky lately. After winning four of five games, they have lost three of their last four games.
Like San Antonio, Indiana is much better on the road (17-14) than at home (9-16). Let’s hope that patterns continues tonight.
San Antonio Spurs Injury Update
The NBA fined the Spurs $25,000 after they rested DeRozan, Mills and Poeltl against the Suns. All three will be back against the Pacers. Expect DeRozan and Poeltl to start in place of Drew Eubanks and Luka Samanic.
The only injured player for the Spurs right now is Trey Lyles. He has a mysterious ankle injury. When (or if) he’ll return this season hasn’t yet been indicated by the team.
Indiana Pacers Injury Update
The Pacers are dealing with multiple injures. Domantas Sabonis is questionable for tonight’s game with a back injury, Myles Turner is questionable with a toe injury, Doug McDermott is questionable with an ankle injury and Jeremy Lamb is questionable with a knee injury.
The last time these two teams played, the Pacers won 139-133 even though Sabonis, Lamb and Malcolm Brogdon were out with injury. Brogdon has since returned and will be available to play against the Spurs tonight.
Spurs at Pacers – How the Spurs Can Win
In Phoenix, the Spurs shared the ball extremely well. Their defense was active and they rarely gave up open shots. Hopefully, the Spurs can carry some of that magic forward against the Pacers. If they play that well on both ends of the floor, they should be able to notch another victory.