The old home and home. Same opponent, different arena. Tonight the Pelicans will be hoping that home cooking and a bit of rest will change the outcome against the Pacers.

On Wednesday, the Pacers started fast, let the energy wane, and then finished strong en route to a 123-114 victory. The Pacers got up 40-24 in the first quarter but couldn't put the Pelicans away. New Orleans' coach Willie Green went away from big man Jonas Valanciunas in favor of smaller, more agile players in Zion Williamson and Larry Nance, Jr. at center as a counter to Indiana's fast paced attack. However, the lack of size helped the home team win the rebounding battle 50-40.

Tyrese Haliburton had a bit of a bounce back game coming off one of his roughest outings of the season against Toronto. He finished with 17 points and 13 assists on 46.7% shooting from the floor and 37.5% from beyond the arc. Still, those numbers are well below what we've come to expect from the Point God.

In his own words: "I'm just on the struggle bus right now, just trying to figure it out... How can I help the team win and figure out what I can do? At the end of the game, they trust me with the ball in my hands and I just made some plays to win the game."

And made plays he did. He teamed up with new running mate Pascal Siakam to close out the visitors in crunch time.

Pascal Siakam, to his credit, put in another stat stuffing performance. He finished with 24 points, 11 boards, 5 assists, and 2 blocks. He did it all on tremendous efficiency too, going 11/18 from the floor.

It will be interesting to track what adjustments both teams make to try and gain an advantage tonight.

Injuries

Aaron Nesmith is back tonight. However, Ben Sheppard is out with an illness.

How to Watch

Tipoff is at 8:00 PM ET.

TV: Bally Sports Indiana, NBA League Pass

Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan

See ya in the comments!

Tagged in:

Game Thread