The Pacers are taking spooky season very seriously. It's the night of the living dead health-wise, with seven players ruled out and one questionable.

The Pacers got smacked in Memphis last night but, again, I actually didn't hate the effort. The Pacers fast paced style generally works because of their chemistry and competence, but when you have as many players playing out of position as they do currently, it's simply going to be an uphill battle.

On the bright side, Mathurin was looking like a bonafide 1st option on offense before a stubbed toe put him on the injury report with the rest of the Pacers' guards. Aaron Nesmith found his range from deep, splashing in 4 of 6. And even though Isaiah Jackson struggled to finish around the hoop, he threw a few excellent passes that gave me hope he could develop into more than a lob threat on offense.

On the negative side, Pascal Siakam struggled from the floor, especially from three where he went 2 of 7. Jarace Walker was ice cold as well, shooting an eye gouging 2 of 13. The worst part of course, were the injuries, which saw both Mathurin and Taleon Peter – who had a strong contingent of friends and family in the building – hit the showers early.

It was a true Frankenstein's-monster lineup by the end of the game, with Carlisle even playing all three centers at once. Tonight, I'm afraid the lineups will be just as frightening but I'm holding out hope for one of those against-all-odds performances. The Pacers had one in Minnesota last year, when the starting lineup of Nembhard, Mathurin, Walker, Toppin and Bryant defeated the full-strength Wolves in OT.

Injuries

Quenton Jackson is available. He had a super efficient 13 points in that upset win last year so let's hope he can provide a repeat performance.

The T-Wolves are pretty healthy, so no favors there.

Trivia Competition Winner

Drumroll, please.

After significant deliberation with the finest sages and mystics a wifi connection can offer, I'm pleased to announce that DetlefBest is the winner of the trivia competition!

He certainly deserves it, as he occupied the top spot from the very beginning. I find some justice in the wire-to-wire leader taking home the prize after NortheastNightmare was usurped at the last moment in the prediction competition.

Still, I feel for FullSail who second guessed himself out of a win. Let that hurt fuel your fire in the next competition, my friend.

And I'm afraid it will hurt. Because, though I'm no King Solomon, I did create the sudden death quiz with the specific purpose of trying to suss out who was the most worthy recipient of the prize. In the process, both men aced the quiz and proved their undying love for a specific player: Pacers legend T.J. Leaf.

So congratulations Detlef, you are now the proud owner of an autographed T.J. Leaf playing card.

And of course, many thanks to Rubalamp for providing this amazing reward!

I think we can all agree this was a lot of fun and we'll be doing something similar before long.

How to Watch

Tipoff is at 7:00 PM ET.

TV: FanDuel Sports Network, NBA League Pass

Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan

See ya in the comments!

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