The positive for the Charlotte Hornets and the Indiana Pacers is that one of these struggling teams will walk away with a win after they meet Wednesday night in Indianapolis.
The negative? Indiana has lost four games in a row and Charlotte five.
Despite leading the NBA in scoring with an average of 127.4 points per game, the Pacers are just 13-12 and in danger of dipping to .500. They also give up an NBA-worst 127 points per game.
“You get a day off, practice, and you get to go back again and change the whole narrative,” Indiana guard Bennedict Mathurin said.
The Pacers gave up at least 37 points in every quarter in dropping a 151-127 matchup with the visiting Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night.
“I think it’s understood that we’re not the team that’s sneaking up anymore,” Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton said. “Teams are going to be prepared when they play us. … The switch has to flip here pretty quick.”
Meanwhile, the Hornets led going into the fourth quarter before stumbling badly in a 114-99 loss at Toronto on Monday. Charlotte is 1-7 in December.
Each of these teams need a victory on Wednesday to get the momentum started.
Indiana’s latest setback dulled some of the bright spots delivered by Mathurin’s career-high 34 points.
“We just got to come out with more energy,” Mathurin said. “I don’t think we take matchups personal, and I think it’s been one of our biggest problems. Pretty much just got to pay attention to details, knowing when to foul and know when not to foul and stuff like that.”
Charlotte used its 10th different starting lineup of the season in Monday’s game, even though the team got P.J. Washington back after a two-game absence with a sore shoulder. He provided some sizzle and reached a 3-point milestone while sinking the 500th long ball of his career.
“The effort is good,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. “We just have to learn from it. We have things we need to work on, and we’ll see it when we watch the film.”
Three Charlotte rookies were on the court together for one sequence in Monday’s game. Brandon Miller is a starter, while Nick Smith Jr. and Leaky Black came off the bench.
“Good experience for them,” Clifford said. “We’ll share with the team what we did well and hopefully grow from there.”
The Hornets can’t match up in the interior with many opponents, particularly with center Mark Williams out with a back injury. They were minus-15 in rebounding in the Toronto game.
“The second-chance points in the fourth quarter were the biggest difference,” Clifford said.
This is Charlotte’s second visit to Indiana this season. In early November, the Hornets won 125-124 behind Williams’ 27 points. For Indiana, Mathurin had only eight points in that game, though Haliburton scored 43 for a total that marks his second-largest point production of the season.
Haliburton had a season-low eight points in 31 minutes against the Clippers, so he could be eager to get back on track.
“I’ve just been playing really poor,” he said. “We’ve played good defenses, but I think a lot of it is on me, just getting to my spots. … My last two or three nights have been pretty rough. It happens through the course of an NBA season. I’ll figure it out.”
–Field Level Media
