The Portland Trail Blazers are getting ready to take on the Indiana Pacers for the first matchup of a three-game homestand.
The Blazers are going into the game at 30-34 on the season, four games under .500. They find themselves 5.5 games ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies for the No. 11 seed but just one game back of the Los Angeles Clippers for the No. 9 spot, which would afford the Blazers the opportunity to host a game during the Play-In Tournament.
The Pacers have struggled this season, but the Blazers still have to figure out a way to pull out a win. The Pacers are a team that was in the NBA Finals less than a year ago, and while a lot has changed in the nine months since their playoff run, they are still an NBA team that can put the Blazers on upset alert if Portland doesn’t execute its game plan and attack from the very start.
To learn more about the Blazers’ upcoming opponent, we spoke with Indiana Pacers On SI reporter Alex Golden.