Hornets Can't Afford to Overlook Pacers as the Playoff Race Heats Up Down the Stretch

This season has been a rollercoaster for the Charlotte Hornets, and the last couple of weeks have been emblematic of that. They won five straight games, then lost two hugely important ones against Philadelphia and Boston, before digging themselves out of that hole with victories over Brooklyn and Phoenix.

Now, they are up to 8th place in the East, and with a win today, could extend their lead on the trailing Magic and Heat. To do so, they'll have to overcome another team riding a two-game win streak:

Today's opponent: The Indiana Pacers (18-58 | 13th in the East)

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) reacts to a dunk in the second half against the Toronto Raptors at Gainbridge — In Street Clothes this season: Pacers Superstar Tyrese Haliburton is still recovering from the Achilles tear he sustained in last years finals | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

It's fair to say nobody had high expectations for the Pacers without Haliburton. As the season went on and the injuries started piling up, those negative premonitions were confirmed.

Just four players have appeared in more than 60 games for Indiana, and head coach Rick Carlisle has used a total of 27 players this season. For comparison, the Hornets have seven players with 60+ games and used only 21 different ones.

As a result, the Pacers have been plain bad, both offensively and defensively. They still try to play fast, and now and then they will get hot. That's what led to their recent wins against Chicago and Miami, where they scored 145 and 136 points.

But sans Haliburton and most of their usual rotation, they're just not capable of emulating last season's success. Tonight, they will again be without a whole rotation worth of players:

The Injury Report:

Charlotte Hornets: OUT - NOT YET SUBMITTED

Indiana Pacers: OUT - Tyrese Haliburton (R Achilles), Ivica Zubac (Rib), T.J. McConnell (R Hamstring), Andrew Nembhard (Cervical and Lumbar), Aaron Nesmith (Cervical), Jarace Walker (Lower Back), Johnny Furphy (R ACL) Probable - Obi Toppin (R Foot), Pascal Siakam (R Knee)

Key To The Game: Don't underestimate Indiana

With the Pacers' fast and three-point happy play style, they can beat you even when their team consists mostly of G-Leaguers. If the Hornets take this matchup lightly on the second night of a back-to-back and don't hustle in transition, it could get iffy.

When Charlotte has struggled on defense this season, it has rarely been for a lack of effort and more often because of communication issues and bad individual defense. Those factors would become very important should Pascal Siakam and Obi Toppin play.

If they suit up, the focus defensively should be 100% on them. Siakam specifically has the skill set and ability to keep his team in games on his own in some instances, and can definitely score in one-on-one situations.

Otherwise, there honestly isn't a singular available player for the Pacers that can go off just by himself. So as long as the Hornets take this game seriously and stay attentive in transition and on rotations, they should be fine.

Projected Starting Lineups

	Charlotte Hornets	Indiana Pacers
Point Guard	LaMelo Ball	Quenton Jackson
Shooting Guard	Kon Knueppel	Ethan Thompson
Small Forward	Brandon Miller	Pascal Siakam
Power Forward	Miles Bridges	Kobe Brown
Center	Moussa Diabaté	Jay Huff

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