**What**: Charlotte Hornets (4-10) (1-6 away) at Indiana Pacers (1-13) (1-5 home)
**When:** 7:00pm Eastern
**Where:** Gainbridge Fieldhouse; Indianapolis, IN
**How to watch:** FanDuel Sports Network, NBA League Pass
**Outfitting:** Hornets–Association (white), Pacers–Icon (navy)
**Game Lines:** Hornets -1.5, Hornets money line -130, O/U 237.5
**Injuries:**
Hornets: Tre Mann-doubtful (ankle), Liam McNeeley-out (illness), Brandon Miller-out (shoulder), Josh Green-out (shoulder), Grant Williams-out (knee)
Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton-out (achilles), Aaron Nemsith-out (knee), Obi Toppin-out (foot), Quentin Jackson-out (hamstring), Johnny Furphy-out (ankle), Kam Jones-out (back)
The Pacers were so close to a championship last season. They made it to the Finals and were giving the Thunder everything they could handle. Then Tyrese Haliburton tore his achilles, and that set off a spiral towards the bottom of the standings. Haliburton is presumably out for the year, especially now that we see how the season is going. To compound his absence, the Pacers let Myles Turner walk in free agency after not trading him for about eight years. That removed two of the anchors supporting the team, and it’s collapsed without them. They’ve only won one game, and that was against the Warriors, of all teams.
Now it’s the Bennedict Mathurin and Pascal Siakam show, though Mathurin has only played three games this season as the Pacers take turns getting injured. He came back on Monday against the Pistons and scored 25 points. He’s averaging 29 per game in the three that he’s played thanks in large part to shooting an absurd 13.3 free throws per game (seriously refs, cool it with the foul calls). As for Siakam, he’s taken on more of a role as a play maker and scorer without Haliburton. He’s going to be their primary offensive hub for a lot of the night. Pesky guards Andrew Nembhard and TJ McConnell are both around to help with that too.
The Pacers have been a bad team for large parts of the last few years. That’s still true now, but without Haliburton and Turner, they’re the worst offense in the league. They’re barely shooting 40% from the field and shooting sub-30% from three. I’d like to see the Hornets pick the pace up in this game. The Pacers shouldn’t be able to keep up as the sample size of offensive possessions grows.
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