Two Eastern Conference sides currently in contrasting forms will do battle at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday as the Indiana Pacers entertain the challenge of the Atlanta Hawks.
This weekend's fixture averaged the most points per meeting during the last campaign, and another exhilarating affair could be on the cards in the first instalment of this season's matchups.
Match preview
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Fresh from their season-high 136-point display against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday, the Indiana Pacers put on another superb display offensively as they romped to a 133-119 triumph at the expense of the Detroit Pistons.
Picking up from where they left off in the final quarter of their aforementioned win over the Pistons, Rick Carlisle's men flew out of the blocks with a dominant first-quarter display last time out and never took their foot off the gas as they went the whole game without going behind at any stage.
Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton were in scintillating form for the Pacers, tallying 37 and 30 points respectively, including a combined 23 of their team's 40 points in the opening exchanges of the contest.
Coming out on top in all but two of their 12 matches since the turn of the year, the Pacers currently boast the best NBA record in 2025 and have moved up to fifth place in the Eastern Conference as a result.
With the current campaign now entering into its crunch stages, Saturday's hosts are starting to rediscover the form that saw them reach the conference finals last season and will back themselves to get the job done in front of their fans here.
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The Atlanta Hawks were found wanting on home court once again as they fell to a 100-96 defeat against the Houston Rockets when the teams went head-to-head at the State Farm Arena on Wednesday.
Despite ending the first quarter with a five-point lead, Quin Snyder's men lost control of proceedings over the next 24 minutes of action, at the end of which they trailed by nine and were unable to turn things around.
De'Andre Hunter was unable to keep up his hot streak off the bench following a 35-point blitz against the Minnesota Timberwolves as he managed just 16 points this time around, although he was only second to Trae Young (21) among all Hawks players.
Having now lost six games on the bounce over the last nine days, the Hawks currently find themselves ninth in the Eastern Conference standings and have work to do in the race for automatic playoff qualification.
In the second of three consecutive matches against teams currently above them, Saturday's visitors will have to dig deep to get themselves back on track as they look to avoid falling further behind in the race for a postseason berth.
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Team News
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Jalen Johnson has suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder and is out for the remainder of the 2024-25 season which had seen the 23-year-old take a huge leap in his fourth year.
Clint Capela is nursing a back problem and is a huge doubt for this one, while Trae Young's involvement is also hanging in the balance due to a hamstring injury.
Bogdan Bogdanovic and Cody Zeller are currently ruled out for the away side due to personal reasons, with the latter having not featured this season.
Indiana Pacers duo James Wiseman and Isaiah Jackson are both yet to fully recuperate from a torn Achilles, making them guaranteed absentees for this one.
Meanwhile, guards Bennedict Mathurin and Andrew Nembhard could be unavailable for this weekend's hosts due to illness and a back problem respectively.
Indiana Pacers possible starting five:
Haliburton, Sheppard; Nesmith, Siakam; Turner
Atlanta Hawks possible starting five:
Young, Daniels; Krejci, Gueye; Okongwu
We say: Pacers to win by 6+ points
The Indiana Pacers have been near-perfect of late and will certainly take some stopping against an out-of-sorts Atlanta Hawks outfit.
We fully expect the home side to cruise to a fairly comfortable win when all is said and done.
Adepoju Marvellous
