

Time: 5:00 PM EST
TV: FoxSports Carolinas *This game will not be televised on FoxSports Indiana* Sorry guys, no Stacy Paetz

Venue: Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, NC

Starting Line Ups


Felton hasn't been scoring well lately, but he's one of the better assist men in the league. He'll have an impact, regardless of if he has a high scoring game. Quite the opposite of TJ Ford, who struggles to make an impact if he doesn't get his shot going. But as we've seen, the Pacers go as TJ Ford goes. If he's playing well, chances are we'll come out on top. If he's committing silly turnovers and dominating the ball, we're looking at our third straight loss.


The match up I'm most looking forward to. Since arriving in Charlotte, SJax nearly dropped a double-double in his first game and followed that up with 26 and 22 point games, providing that offense the Bobcats were looking for. Last game was Brandon's best overall game of the season. He hit his shots, got to the line, and had no turnovers. Brandon's defense vs SJax's offense. If Rush can limit Jackson's production, we'll have a good chance in this one.


Dahntay continued to be effective on offense against Cleveland. He's really knocking down that mid-range jumper now, and if teams keep daring him to shoot it, he's going to keep making them pay. He's got another tough cover tonight in Gerald "Crash" Wallace. That nickname used to only indicate his propensity to throw his body around into defenders, sometimes resulting in an injury (concussions) but it's come to mean something else this season - crashing the boards. He had a ridiculous 20 rebounds against New Jersey this season and currently ranks third in RPG, all of this out of the small forward position. Not only is he also 17th in steals but he leads the league in minutes played, so we'll see a lot of him.


Danny struggled a bit against Cleveland, going 7-21 and 2-9 from three so I'm looking for him to have a nice bounce back game tonight. It'll be tough for Diaw to stick with Danny so I think we'll see Jackson or Wallace slide over and try to help. If his shot isn't falling I'd like to see Danny aggressively attack the rim. The best scorers do a great job of using the line to get into a rhythm and only 4 FTA aren't going to cut it. He's letting the defense get off easy by settling when his jumper isn't there. Diaw is an interesting player on offense since he can do a little bit of everything. He can step out around 20 feet and hit that outside jumper and he's a pretty good passer out of the power forward position. He'll make you pay if you misjudge him.


This is going to be a key match up. Mohammed will have a difficult time trying to slow Hibbert down so I hope the first few plays of the game we throw it down to Hibby and let him establish that presence early. Tyson Chandler was scheduled to play on Friday, but he sat out. It's unclear whether he will be ready to go tonight. If Hibbert can limit his fouls, this match up could be a game changer.
Reserves










Injury Report
Pacers
Travis Diener, surgery on left foot, out four to six weeks
Mike Dunleavy, rehab from right knee surgery, out. Possible return Wednesday vs Clippers
Jeff Foster, sprained right ankle, day-to-day
Troy Murphy, bruised lower back, day-to-day
Bobcats
Tyson Chandler, lower back spasms, day-to-day
Coaches


Ah, Larry Brown. Hell of a coach. Ever since he arrived in Charlotte he's been fixing that roster to better suit his style. At 3-9 the record might now show it, but they're not to be overlooked - one of their three wins was against the Hawks. Their defense is one of the best in the league and if they can keep this game low scoring, we're in trouble.
Key Notes
- Flip Murray has been dynamite off the bench. Last week he dropped 31 on the Magic. Please, don't let him torch us.
- Bobcats are undefeated when leading after each of the first three quarters at home.
- The most points they allowed was 100 to the Knicks and that was in overtime. We need to show we can win a half-court game. That's why getting Roy going is especially important.
- Although the Bobcats are 3-9, they are 3-2 at home (3-1 vs the East)
And finally.....
Tradition!



