The Indiana Pacers are the clear cut leaders in the Eastern conference this season after the slow start from the Miami Heat and with the team 7-0 on the year they will put their undefeated record to the test against the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and the game will get started at 7:00 PM and streaming online from NBA.com from the league website.
The Pacers have been playing more consistently than anyone else in the league and they are now the last undefeated team left in the NBA and they will face a tough 3-3 Grizzlies team that made it to the western conference finals last season and lost to the Spurs. The Pacers are coming off of a nice win over the Brooklyn Nets and that game was on the road and after getting 24 points from Paul George and 11 rebounds from Roy Hibbert on Saturday, the team is ready to take on another playoff team from last season. The Pacers have been playing fantastic team defense and are doing just enough on offense to keep teams on their heels and after playing the Grizzlies the team will have the Bucks on Friday at home as well and the start by the Pacers could be exactly what the team needs to finish tops in the conference this season.
Check here for the Pacers and Grizzlies stream.
The Miami Heat are obviously the favorites in the east after winning the conference again last season and now the Pacers have the chance to put themselves in position to challenge for that, as they could be the ones with home court advantage this time around and that could tip the scales in their favor. The Pacers lost in seven games last season to Miami, but if players like Roy Hibbert and George continue to play well, they should end up on top. The Pacers added Luis Scola in a trade and kept David West in free agency and that has helped keep things rolling from last season and the team still hasn't even gotten back All-Star Danny Granger yet and while he is coming off a serious knee issue, he is a very talented player that could be the missing piece for a championship, as he has shown he has the potential to be an elite scorer and that is what the Pacers lacked last season.
The Pacers aren't blowing out teams this season, averaging just under 95 points per game and the team defense has been excellent going for 85 points per game to rank first in the league and that should be a strength for the team all season. The Pacers are ranked in the top 15 in both rebounding and assists and no other team is playing as well overall as Indiana. George is leading the team with over 25 points per game and he has continued to be a budding superstar and that makes the Pacers very dangerous going forward, while Hibbert is tops in rebounding with nine boards per game. Lance Stephenson has been very good since taking over for Granger and he has continued that this season, making it uncertain that Granger will even return to the starting lineup when he eventually gets healthy. The Pacers have a big lead in the central with Cleveland next at 3-4 and their best competition in the Chicago Bulls are currently in last place with just two wins.
The Pacers will play the Bulls this weekend and they also have home games against Boston and the Knicks coming after that and before playing the Grizz the team plays the Bucks. The Grizzlies come in with a win over the Warriors coming on Saturday night after 23 points and 11 rebounds from Zach Randolph and the team will play the Raptors after facing the Indiana Pacers. The Grizz are 3-3 this season and ranked in the top 16 in both scoring and scoring defense and the game on Monday will be a nice test for a team looking to bump off an undefeated Pacers squad.
