THE SKINNY
Coming off a tiring and lucky overtime win over the Cavs, the Pacers immediately get on the road 20 hours later against a Pistons team desperate and hungry for its first win. The Pistons are starting to enter the area of desperate determination, and that is a highly combustible fuel.
THE LINEUPS
Point Guard
Darren Collison and the entire Pacers ball movement was less than effectual through 4 quarters of play against the Cavaliers. Collison will be up against the bigger, strong finishing Stuckey. Most likely, Collison will be matched up against Gordon and George against Stuckey.
Shooting Guard
Paul George disappeared for stretches in the Cavs game a la a certain current Warrior, but his defensive presence was felt. Ben Gordon can get hot at any moment, so the Pacers need to attack him on defense and make him dribble on offense.
Small Forward
In the past, Prince has always seemed to get the the better of Danny, but with backup, Danny looks to take control of this matchup. The key area to watch will be the boards. Granger is on pace for a career-high season on the glass.
Power Forward
While it isn't happening very early, late in games is seems David West and Danny Granger both find ways to close out games. West has two double-doubles as a Pacer, and his offensive presence and veteran leadership is already apparent. He has young hustle in Jonas Jerebko to contend with.
Center
Roy Hibbert has turned into a strong rebounding presence, and snatched 14 of them from Monroe & Co. last meeting. The muscle added during the offseason appears to be paying off as he has become a more productive player at a higher efficiency. He's also stayed out of foul trouble. This year cold be special for Roy Hibbert.
THE BENCH
With both teams coming off back-to-backs, depth is going to be tantamount to success. George Hill is still looking to capture some semblance of consistency, but Tyler Hansbrough is putting it together with 11 boards per game off the bench. The bench needs to improve in its field goal percentage, however, and that will be a challenge on the road.
THE COACHES
Lawrence Frank and Frank Vogel are both young coaches. Vogel has his team in the polar opposite position, with his team finally having the skills to pull out close games. His goal is to get another convincing win over the struggling Pistons.
THE INJURY REPORT
Pacers
Jeff Foster: Back - Probably not.
Jeff Pendergraph: Knee - Probably not.
Pistons
None.
THE HEAVY MATTERS
-Find a way to hang on to leads. This team has shown complacency with 4th quarter leads against supposedly inferior opponents.
-Bench needs to be more solid. Dahntay brings great energy, but is a black hole, and almost no one is shooting well.
THE TRADITION
NO MORE COLD SHOOTING!
