Pacers vs Warriors

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. day basketball fans! We wrap up MLK day with a gamethread for the last NBA game of the night. The Indiana Pacers (32-7 ) start a five-game road trip tonight; first up are the Golden State Warriors (26-16). Here's what you need to know:

Time: 10:30 PM eastern, 7:30 PM pacific

Watch on: TNT

Venue: ORACLE Arena (not sure why that's in all caps, but hey, I'm just following the rules of the NBA.com media guide), Oakland, California

Probable Starters:

Injuries: Festus Ezeli (knee), Jermaine O'Neal (wrist), and Nemanja Nedovic (hamstring) have all been ruled out for the Warriors. The Pacers are playing with a full deck, no injuries to report.

The last time these teams met: Despite Curry's 38 points, the Pacers took a 108-97 win at home in nap-town over the Warriors last February. David West led the way for the Pacers with 28 points and 7 rebounds.

Story: The Pacers have won four games in a row and the Warriors have lost two of their last three. This match-up will be that of two totally different playing styles, offense versus defense. The Warriors rank 10th in the league in points-per-game while the Pacers rank 1st in opponents ppg and 1st in defensive rating. The Warriors have not won a series against the Pacers since the 2000-01 season, but the Warriors have won four of the last five games against Indiana at Oracle Arena.

Stat you didn't know: THE EIGHTH GRADER aka BORN READY aka Lance Stephenson recorded his third triple-double of the season with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the 106-79 win over the Celtics in December. He became the first Indiana player to post three triple-doubles in a season since (former Sonic) Detlef Schrempf recorded four during the 1992-93 season. Stephenson leads the NBA in triple doubles this season.

Prediction: The Pacers play lock down defense and take a close win in Oakland.

Pacers - 89, Warriors - 84

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