Pacers - Nets (Preview)

The Indiana Pacers enter their second game of a home-and-home series with the New Jersey Nets tonight. The Pacers snapped a three game losing streak last night by beating the Nets 113-103.

The Pacers are now only two games back on the seventh ranked Nets in the East. With Kidd gone and Devin Harris out with an ankle injury, now is the time to gain and eventually take over the seventh spot. Devin Harris' absence was definitely felt last night as the Nets had a total 23 turnovers and only 22 assists.

"I think it's a little easier to defend them because (Kidd) brought so much to their transition game," Pacers forward Danny Granger said. "They won't have that anymore. I'd rather play them without him than with him any day."

The Keys to tonights game are the same as yesterday. Limit Vince Carter's touches and open shots. Carter was frustrated last night as he couldn't even drive to the basket with out a body on him or hands in his face. The coaching staff even took him out with ten minutes left in the game when the Nets were only down 10 points at the time. Also, the point guards are struggling for the Nets. Until Devin Harris returns I believe the Nets will continue to hurt as I see no improvement in Marcus Williams.

Mike Dunleavy needs to stay hot, going 11-20 last night, to give the Pacers a chance to stay in the game tonight. Granger will remain consistent getting his average of 18 points a game, and Foster, Diener, and Murphey will add theirs. As long as they move the ball around and play good defense like they did last night, the Pacers will win this series against the Nets putting them in good position heading towards the end of the season.

--No in-game update--

Pacers - Nets (Preview)

After a day off, the Pacers will be playing the Kidd-less Nets tonight at 7PM. Even though some of us might have thought we needed a change around here, Coach Jim O'Brien had different feelings. He told the Pacers official website, "I happen to like coaching this group of players. I think that they feel like they have not played nearly their best basketball yet, and I want to see them play that type of basketball."

The key for tonights game will be trying to control Vince Carter. This is the first game between the teams this season, but last season Carter averaged 31.3 points in four games. Also, with Devin Harris being out, the Nets could be inconsistent at their point guard position. They will have Marcus Williams going, who through 25 games is averaging 4.1 points and 1.6 assists.

Even though the Pacers lost their first game out of the All-Star break to the Cavs Wednesday night, tonight will be a true test to see how they are going to play the second half. With the trade deadline behind them, players can start focusing on becoming a team and tonight is the night to do it.