Pacers must play with more 'urgency' as 76ers visit Indiana
The Indiana Pacers look to get back on track Sunday night when they host the Philadelphia 76ers.
Indiana (36-36) has dropped two straight games and is 7-14 in its last 21 contests. The Pacers are in the midst of a tight playoff race in the Eastern Conference, leading the Miami Heat by one game for the No. 8 seed and 2 1/2 clear of ninth-place Chicago and Detroit.
Friday night was the first of three straight home games for the Pacers. Instead of taking advantage, Indiana's comeback attempt fell short as it lost to the Denver Nuggets 125-117.
"You have to start the game with that aggressive play that we played with in the fourth quarter," said Pacers coach Nate McMillan, whose club scored 42 points in the final period.
"It's urgency," Indiana's Paul George said. "We decided to play late. I try to move the ball and get guys involved. When that doesn't work, that's when I go as the lone wolf."
With only 10 games remaining, the Pacers might be making a change in the starting lineup to try to find a spark.
"We are looking at changing," McMillan told pacers.com. "With Glenn (Robinson III) being out, we really have two shooting guards and a point guard with that second group. So we'll look at possibly making some changes and trying to make sure we keep a balance with the first and second unit."
Robinson is out with a calf injury and may not return until the playoffs.
The Sixers have plenty of injuries as Jerryd Bayless, Joel Embiid and Tiago Splitter are out.
In the last matchup, Philadelphia prevailed 109-105 in overtime in November, but that was with Embiid (25 points, seven rebounds) in the lineup.
The Sixers are playing better of late but are 10-26 on the road for the season, while the Pacers are 25-11 at home.
Philadelphia won in Chicago 117-107 on Friday. Dario Saric had a monster night with 32 points and 10 rebounds.
"He is able to figure out the NBA quicker than I thought," Sixers coach Brett Brown told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "We all guessed his skill set was going to be pretty good in his first year."
Saric added: "When I start to shoot well, I can play easy. I can do good things here in the NBA."
The Pacers won their last six games against Philadelphia in Indianapolis.
