The Indiana Pacers have won three straight games at five of their last six at home. That includes wins over the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, and New Orleans Pelicans (a team Houston has struggled with this season). Oh, and in the midst of all that they went into Oklahoma City and beat the Thunder.

We’re at the point of the year where teams are outright tanking. Even the teams that know that it’s in their best interest to be bad are trying to learn what they have while remaining competitive. As the better teams look to the All-Star break as an opportunity to rest and recover, teams at the bottom of the standings see wounded contenders ready to be taken down. Then, after the All-Star break, they can have conversations with their veterans that go along the lines of “Do you really want us to play you 30 minutes a night, or would you rather save your legs and extend your career by another season?” Right now, the Pacers are trying to show proof of concept to their fans and the league. Next season, armed with a lottery pick and a returning Tyrese Haliburton, they’ll look to make a run at the Eastern Conference title once again.

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And in case you’d forgotten, there are some good players still playing in Indiana. Pascal Siakam is one of the most well-rounded players in the league. Jarace Walker, the former Cougar, always has something extra for Houston. Aaron Nesmith showed last season that he’s a bona fide 3-and-D guy. Jay Huff loves to reverse dunk. Benedict Mathurin is a microwave scorer off the bench. T.J. McConnell is their version of “the guy you hate unless he’s on your team,” except McConnell is actually fun to watch. And of course I’ll save Andrew Nembhard for last. He just dropped 26p/10a/6r against the Hawks in anticipation of Gonzaga’s big with over St. Mary’s on Saturday. He’s a starting-caliber point guard and it’s going to be interesting if they see the duo of him and Haliburton being able to play together long term or if they look to move Nembhard in an attempt to replace some of what they lost in Myles Turner.

Tip-off

6pm CT

How To Watch

Space City Home Network

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Injury ReportRockets

Steven Adams: OUT

Fred VanVleet: OUT

Pacers

Obi Toppin: OUT

Tyrese Haliburton: OUT

The Line (as of this post)

N/A

Check here for updates

Looking ahead because we can

Wednesday night at home against the Boston Celtics