The Indiana Pacers hope to switch the season series with the Phoenix Suns for the first time since 2019.

Catch the game tomorrow at 8:00 AM, Manila time.

AWAY: Phoenix Suns (15-17, 5-9 AWAY)

Projected starting five:

  • Tyus Jones
  • Devin Booker
  • Bradley Beal
  • Kevin Durant
  • Jusuf Nurkic 

The Suns are on a three-game losing streak, and have only won once over their last seven games. They average 106.0 points per game and allow 113.4 in return across that span.

Interestingly enough, the awful stretch started with their 120-111 defeat with the Pacers last December 20th. Kevin Durant was in his usual self with 37 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists, but his two Big Three comrades, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, weren’t, chipping in just 17 and 16 points, respectively. Booker is also coming off a woeful 4-of-20 shooting against the Memphis Grizzlies, so he ought to be focused on having a bounce-back performance. Beal, meanwhile, is a game-time decision due to a hip injury – he left the previous game after just 12 minutes of action.

If Beal is unable to go, Tyus Jones may be more involved. He has been very serviceable, consistently putting forth efficient assist-to-turnover ratio numbers. Jusuf Nurkic and defensive wings Josh Okogie and Ryan Dunn could produce more as well.

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HOME: Indiana Pacers (17-18, 8-6 HOME)

Projected starting five:

  • Tyrese Haliburton
  • Andrew Nembhard
  • Aaron Nesmith
  • Pascal Siakam 
  • Myles Turner

The Pacers have been hot-and-cold all season, and is, for the nth time, entering a game hot. They eased past the Miami Heat on the road on Friday, 128-115, shooting 53.1% from the field, burying 17 three-pointers, and dishing out 35 assist while committing just eight turnovers.

All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who’s having a down year and arguably front and center as to why Indy can’t get anything consistent all year, had a fantastic performance. He put up 33 points and 15 assists with six treys on 61.9% shooting. It’s yet another encouraging outing, though as we’ve seen over the last two months, he’s likely to follow it up with a dud. That said, he did have a respectable 13 points and 12 dimes in the aforementioned victory over the Suns, so that’s worth something at least.

Whether Haliburton goes nuts or not, though, the Pacers still have six other guys averaging in double-digits, all of which can go off this Sunday: top scorer Pascal Siakam (19.8 PPG), veteran big man Myles Turner (15.1 PPG), explosive swingman Ben Mathurin (16.7 PPG), guards TJ McConnell (10.8 PPG) and Andrew Nembhard (10.8 PPG), and athletic forward Obi Toppin (10.3 PPG). Siakam, in particular, dropped 25 points and grabbed 18 boards when they last met Phoenix.

PICKS:

Spread: Suns (+1.5)

Over/Under: Over (234)

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