Indiana Pacers (5-7) vs. Phoenix Suns (7-5)

Phoenix was a thorn in the side of the Pacers last season as the Suns were able to beat Indiana twice and you might even argue they were one of the teams that started The Struggle last season. The Suns are on a three game winning streak right now as they roll into Indianapolis on Saturday and though that is against some s0-s0 teams, they are looking good in the process. The Suns are shooting around 50% from the field in their last three games and 45.6% on the season. One of the reasons they do so well shooting is they balance where their scoring comes from. They don’t go as crazy with 3-point shots as the Houston Rockets, but Phoenix is in the upper-half of the league as they get around 30% of their points from deep. They will be the opposite of the Charlotte Hornets as only 15.1 of their points come from mid-range. The Suns will spread the floor and test each part of Indiana’s defense. This game will be more of a real test of the Pacers defense as Marcus Morris, Markieff Morris, and Miles Plumlee will make up the Suns front court and Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic, challenging one of the few advantages Indiana has in this game.

There are a lot of bad match ups for the Pacers in this game, as each one would most likely favor the Suns with the exception of Roy Hibbert vs Miles Plumlee. The first game last year Hibbert and all the Pacers looked bad in the first loss, but in the second loss Hibbert scored 26 points. It is a Hibbert performance like that later one that Indiana will need tonight if they want to beat the Suns. Unless we get another A.J. Price “Not going to China” performance, it is hard to see how Indiana wins if Hibbert doesn’t play well.

Who to watch on the Suns: I’ll be keeping an eye on Goran Dragic. He’s proved himself an exceptionally talented guard and I’m not entirely sold on how Solomon Hill will defend him, or Donald Sloan if that’s the case. If it is Solomon, I want to keep a close eye on his progress as a defender.

Who to watch on the Pacers: Rodney Stuckey played 26 minutes against Charlotte and was they healthiest we’ve seen him all season. He looked shaky in that performance, but you have to give him time to shake off any rust. Let’s see how he handles significant minutes with the rest of the line up.

The Big Question

Can Hibbert be good Hibbert tonight against the trio of Plumlee and the Morris Brothers? When both Morris Bros. start, the Suns are 9-10 in those games. I’m interested to see how Hibbert handles the size of that back court as I never trust Luis Scola to do a lot defensively.

Betting Line

The Suns are a -2 road favorite with 195 over/under. I assume the Suns can handle the Pacers, but I’m a little nervous about both teams scoring around 100 points, unless we see a Phoenix blow out. Take the Suns and the under.

One Random Thing