The Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics are playing live on the NBA schedule on Friday night and the matchup is at TD Garden starting up at 7 pm ET from CSNN on TV and the matchup is streaming online from the NBA.com League Pass as Rajon Rondo matches up with Roy Hibbert and company in Bean town.
The Pacers have had a tough start to the season and just like that they are 1-4 and in fifth place in the central division. The team knows it will have a tough time this year with Paul George out and the team also has had to deal with injuries to David West and George Hill and they have had Donald Sloan playing quite a bit and now the team has to find a way to turn it around. The Pacers had their window and now it's likely closed after what happened with George. The team was one of the best and now they can hope to just make the playoffs.
The last two seasons ended in series with Miami and now the Pacers will have to fight to make the playoffs. The Pacers signed free-agent guard A.J. Price over Gal Mekel after they couldn't get that worked out and he at least will give the team some support heading forward. The team comes in after an overtime loss to the Washington Wizards and that saw Sloan lead with 31 points and seven assists, while Chris Copeland had 12 rebounds to lead the way.
The Pacers have a matchup with the Celtics and then they will host the Wizards after visiting Washington for their last game. The team comes in ranked seventh in the NBA in points allowed per game and they are currently second in rebounds per game. The Pacers need help everywhere and it will be tough for the team to make the playoffs at this rate, even in the east. George may come back at the end of the season, but he is a long way away.
The Celtics come into the game after a loss against the Raptors and now they have the Pacers before a game on the road against the Bulls. The Pacers are 0-2 away and the Celtics are 1-1 at home this season. The Celtics have played well despite being 1-3 on the year apart from overall defense and they are looking to get on track. The team is ranked in the top five in points per game and assists per game and sixth in rebounds per game, but they are 29th in points allowed and that is why they are in fourth place in the Atlantic division.
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