Pacers Look to Get Easy Win at Home Versus Clippers Tonight
By Josh Dhani
The Indiana Pacers are pretty talented team. However, they just can’t seem to find the consistency. As for the Los Angeles Clippers, they are consistent. Consistent at losing in that case, starting off towards a 1-11 record now.
The Pacers tend to be good at home, but so far have had three losses, all of them basically disappointing.
It starts off with the Milwaukee Bucks. The Pacers were dominating the game for three straight quarters. Entering the fourth quarter, Indy totally gassed out and fell, 94-90.
Then came the Houston Rockets, as the Pacers lost to one of the worst teams in the league, 102-99. It was a game they should have won.
Then along came the Atlanta Hawks. They were a tough opponent, but many expected the Pacers to win. Indiana just couldn’t get the shots they wanted and couldn’t guard up well on the Hawks. All the Atlanta’s’ players were firing shots from every point of the court. It ridiculous, as Indy fell 102-92.
Indy hopes to avoid their third straight loss at home, and their fourth loss total at home. They also hope to avoid going 4-6 to start off the season. At 4-5, Indy needs to keep it very close .500 to manage at least an eighth seed playoff spot.
Against the Clippers, they hope to get a win.
“We just have to take this and go on,” guard Mike Dunleavy told the Pacers’ official website of the Hawks game.
The Pacers are expected to win, having an 84-percent chance compared to L.A.’s 16-percent chance of winning the game, according to AccuScore.
Although the Clippers are struggling, they look forward to a bright future with bright, young stars like Eric Bledsoe, Blake Griffin, Eric Gordon, and so on.
“The guys are battling, fighting,” coach first-year Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said.
The Clippers are recently coming off a heart-breaking 113-111 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Gordon had 30 points, but the Clips couldn’t hold off Michael Beasley, who ended up with the game-winning shot.
“We’re right there,” Gordon said. “We’ve been in this situation seven, eight times and we just let them off the hook.”
The Clippers so far have ten straight losses on the road. I expect another one tonight.
“There’s nothing you can do but keep grinding it out, get ready for (Thursday),” Del Negro said. “We definitely need to get a win here, but if we keep battling and sharpen some things up we’ll have some opportunities.”
Indiana has played solid defense against a lot of teams this year. The Clippers are big turnover team, so expect some good points off steals and things like that, which could mean a good game for Darren Collison.
“If you look at it statistically we’re doing some good things, but the turnovers really hurt us,” Del Negro said.
Josh McRoberts needs to hold off Griffin enough. Other key match-ups will be Al-Farouq Aminu versus Danny Granger and DeAndre Jordan versus Roy Hibbert.
Mike Dunleavy may need help guarding Gordon. Good thing we have Brandon Rush back.
None the less, a big win for the Indiana Pacers as they improve to 5-5.