No Haliburton, no problem, right? The Pacers have won their first two – well, two and change? – let's round up and call it three games without their star point guard. After winning in Atlanta on Friday, Indiana is 9-1 over its last 10 games.

I wish the Pacers could play Atlanta 82 times a year because every time they face off it's a fun night for Pacers fans.

The talk all year has been about the embarrassment of depth this team possesses. Over the last few games, we've seen that depth bare fruit. The bench has been doing more than its fair share of heavy lifting, appearing heads and shoulders better than opposing reserve units.

Just take a look at some of these stat lines from the backups.

Unfortunately, things start getting a lot tougher over the next week. The Pacers are on their first big Western Conference road trip of the year and they aren't easing into it. Today's matchup is none other than the defending champion Denver Nuggets.

As we're all aware by this point, Denver employs the best player in the league in Nikola Jokic. He's a bit like if Haliburton and Shaq had a baby. Around his excellence, the Nuggets have constructed a roster that is in the top-ten in both offensive and defensive efficiency.

Having said that, over the past two weeks, Denver's defense has been struggling. They are giving up 119 points per 100 possessions, significantly over their season average of 114. If the Pacers want a chance to win this afternoon, they'll need to keep that trend alive because over that same stretch the Nuggets' offense has been scorching hot.

It will be a tall order for the Pacers to take down their old ABA rivals in the thin mountain air without Tyrese leading the way, but that's why we watch the games.

Injuries

How to Watch

Tipoff is at 3:30 PM ET.

TV: Bally Sports Indiana, NBA League Pass

Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan

See ya in the comments!

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