The up-and-down Pacers are looking for revenge against the darlings of the National Basketball Referees Association, the Los Angeles Lakers.

The teams have faced off twice this year and both games have gone the exact same way. The Lakers ability to draw significantly more fouls than the Pacers has slowed the game to a halt and made it impossible for the Pacers to execute their game plan. In both contests, Indy has hung tough and made it close but failed to execute in crunch time.

It will be interesting to see what changes Carlisle makes to try to finally get over the LeBron-sized hump. Perhaps it's less than ideal that the Pacers are still figuring out rotations this close to the playoffs but those are the challenges in professional sports.

Currently, the battle for back-up small forward (and wing minutes in general) is fairly heated. With Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard, Ben Sheppard, Jarace Walker and Doug McDermott all vying for minutes, Carlisle said that he'll make rotation decisions on the fly tonight.

I think we all know who we want to win those minutes. It sure would be nice if the 8th overall pick in the draft solidified himself as someone the team can build around for the next 8+ years. But wins matter most so what happens on the court will dictate how things shake out.

Injuries

How to Watch

Tipoff is at 7:00 PM ET.

TV: NBA TV, Bally Sports Indiana, NBA League Pass

Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan

See ya in the comments!

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