The patchwork Pacers take on the ascending Cavs on Sunday night in Cleveland.
The Pacers (19-35) are on the road in Clevend for a Sunday evening matchup with the Cavaliers (32-21). Oh, and then the teams made a trade!
Caris LeVert was expected to start at guard for the Pacers after warming up at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and then was informed he needed to walk across the arena to the Cavs locker room after being traded around 4 p.m. ET.
So, other than that…
The Cavs are battling a couple of key injuries, most importantly of late a sore lower back that has kept All-Star guard, Darius Garland out of the last three games. Garland remains questionable to play in this one. The Cavs have won 7 of their last 10 games including two of the three games Garland has missed recently. Winning more than they lose has the Cavs currently sitting in fourth place in the Eastern Conference but just 1.5 games behind the top spot.
The Pacers have lost their last two games while battling with an undermanned and really undersized available roster. While Terry Taylor has put up impressive numbers playing center at 6’5, slowing down opposing bigs has been a problem that will continue in Cleveland with Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen playing at a high level.
Fortunately, Domantas Sabonis is expected to play in Cleveland and Goga Bitadze is also expected to be available. Malcolm Brogdon remains out, so the young guards on the roster will have to step up once again to fill the void now left with LeVert on the Cavs and Brogdon out
This is the second of four meeting between the teams. Cleveland won the first game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, 108-104 in early January.
DraftKings Odds: Cavaliers -5.5, O/U 216.5 (latest DraftKings odds here)
When: 6:00 p.m. ET
When: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH
TV: Bally Sports Indiana
Radio: 93.5 FM/107.5 FM
Projected Starting Lineups:
Pacers: Duane Washington Jr., Chris Duarte, Justin Holiday, Torrey Craig, Domantas Sabonis
Cavaliers: Brandon Goodwin, Isaac Okoro, Cedi Osman, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen
Injury update:
IND: Goga Bitadze – questionable (sore right foot), Malcolm Brogdon – out (sore right Achilles), Isaiah Jackson – out (right ankle sprain), T.J. McConnell – out (right wrist ligament surgery), Myles Turner – out (left foot stress reaction), T.J. Warren – out (left navicular fracture)
CLE: Darius Garland – questionable (sore lower back), Lauri Markkanen – out (right ankle sprain), Ricky Rubio – out (left knee ACL tear), Collin Sexton – out (left knee meniscal tear)
Please leave your thoughts and observations on the game in the comments.