Indiana Pacers vs Wizards: Potential play-in tournament preview?

Fresh off of a beyond dominant performance this past Saturday in Oklahoma City, with a 152 to 95 victory, the Indiana Pacers will head to the nation’s capital for a second time to take on the Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal-led Washington Wizards. The Wizards currently sit at 10th in the Eastern Conference with a 29-35 record, one spot behind Indiana.

If the season ended today this would be one of the play-in tournament games where both teams would be battling to keep their seasons alive with the winner playing the loser of the seventh versus eighth seed matchup.

Indiana Pacers could get a play-in preview with the Wizards

The last time Pacer fans saw their squad in Washington, they witnessed vintage Westbrook put up a dominant triple-double performance of 35 points, 14 rebounds as well as seeing him dish out a season-high 21 assists. Washington was without Beal with a right hip contusion but still managed to put up 132 points with 75 of them coming in the second half.

This time around the Wizards backcourt will be together while Indiana will be without Myles Turner (toe) and could be without Malcolm Brogdon for a second consecutive game nursing a hamstring injury, both starters played in the March 29 matchup.

Although they’ve struggled with inner conference matchups with a current 11-23 record versus Eastern Conference teams, Washington is playing some of their best basketball as of late winning eight of their last 10 games. The Wizards are coming off a one-point loss in Dallas, 125-124, and will return home looking to close the gap with Indiana being only one and a half games back. Indiana gets a major boost, though, with the return of two-time all-star Domantas Sabonis who had a season-high 35 points last time the two teams faced off.

Up and down has been a perfect way to describe this season for the Pacers with a 30-33 record and a 5-5 record in their last ten games. Aside from a roller coaster type season, Monday night will place the team where they’ve been at their best, playing on the road. The team is 19-14 away from Bankers Life Fieldhouse, a road win percentage comparable to the top three seeded teams in the Eastern Conference, Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, and the Milwaukee Bucks.

Indiana will need to continue that high level of play in order to get even with Washington on the same floor where they were outrebounded 55 to 37 and missed 18 of their 30 three-point attempts. Indiana must set a physical tone from the opening tip by improving on the glass and being better on both ends of the court if they want to widen their lead in the standings above the Wizards and close the gap behind the Charlotte Hornets for the eighth seed.

Being better defensively will be tough without the league-leading shot-blocker at 3.4 a night for Turner, but the playoffs are right around the corner, and the next-man-up mentality will be something Indiana will have to embrace Monday night and beyond.