Road Warriors: Indiana Pacers Try to Catch Lightning in a Bottle
By Jesse Smith
The Road Warriors series will be highlighting the Indiana Pacers road trips and how they have fared historically in opposing arenas. This time, we have a short trip to Charlotte to break down.
The Indiana Pacers are coming off of a three-game homestand where they took care of business, taking out the Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks, and Utah Jazz. The blue and gold won all three home games, including last night’s somewhat surprising win over the Utah Jazz 121-94.
The team managed to do a lot of damage offensively without All-Star Victor Oladipo. The victory moved them to 11-6 on the new year, which puts them at around 53 wins as their season pace. They remain in third place in the Eastern Conference, sitting two games behind the Toronto Raptors for the lead. The Pacers have now won seven out of their last ten. They will attempt to catch lightning in a bottle as they will face the Charlotte Hornets.
According to Land of Basketball, this will be the 108th meeting between the Pacers and the Hornets/Bobcats. The Pacers have dominated the series to this point with a 64-43 record, although it is not as convincing in Charlotte (22-30).
More from 8 Points, 9 Seconds
- 2 Studs, 1 dud from gut-wrenching Indiana Pacers loss to Charlotte Hornets
- Handing out early-season grades for Pacers’ Bruce Brown, Obi Toppin
- 3 positives, 2 negatives in Pacers In-Season Tournament win vs. Cavaliers
- 2 positives, 3 negatives from first week of Indiana Pacers basketball
- Should Isaiah Jackson’s days with Indiana Pacers be numbered?
Over the last week, no one in the NBA has been playing better offensive basketball than Kemba Walker. He dropped 60 points in a heartbreaking loss to the 76ers at home, then 43 in an impressive win against the Celtics on Monday night. The Hornets outscored the Celtics 33-25 in the fourth quarter to sneak out the win. Walker provided the dagger while up three points late in the game with another three-point make. He’s been impossible to handle recently.
Outside of Walker, the offense for the Hornets appears to be anemic so far this year. Nicholas Batum is always a threat from deep and might give the Pacers perimeter some trouble. Rookie Miles Bridges is a ball of energy off the bench and could go off at any point.
It is tough to make a prediction without the known status of Oladipo, but if the Pacers play the same brand of basketball they played against Utah they’ll be just fine. The Hornets record is at 8-8, but I fully believe they are a better team than that. Walker and Batum always seem to ball out against Indy. It will not be easy, but I will call a Pacers win regardless of Oladipo’s status.
Prediction: Indiana Pacers 105, Charlotte Hornets 99
Next. Who’s going to lose minutes so Aaron Holiday can play?. dark
What’s in Town?
Charlotte is a fun city and also fairly inexpensive to travel. If you are traveling with the team, expect weather to be sunny in the high 50’s-low 60’s this week. This is the first week of the city’s Winter Wonderland celebration in South Park. There is a large ice skating rink along with holiday-themed cuisine. Concert-wise, Mac DeMarco is in town as well as 3OH!3 if that is your speed.