NBA Regular Season 2012-2013: Indiana Pacers (26-17) at Utah Jazz (23-20) -- Game Thread

NBA Regular Season 2012-2013, Game 44:

Indiana Pacers (26-17) @ Utah Jazz (23-20)

#INDatUTA Game Stream -- Indy Cornrows -- Pacers vs Jazz coverage

Let's finish the week strong!

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The Basics:

This is the last game of a back to back set for us, and the last game in a 3 games in 4 nights dealie. Fun. The pacers are playing game 3 in a 4 game road trip. They beat the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, lost to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday -- and now face us tonight. They finish their trip NEXT Monday at the Denver Nuggets. Indy doesn't have a big streak on the line, but they're pretty darn good. They've won 16 of their last 22. A lot of those have been road games. For the season they are 10-14 on the road, and 12-10 against the Western Conference. We're not too shabby at home, sporting a 14-4 record here, and a 11-5 record against the Eastern Conference.

Both teams are 7-3.

That's kind of where the similarities end. They're defense first -- not just in mentality, but in DEF RTG for the entire NBA. We're like defense last . . . not just in ranking but in overall order of importance. They'll be without superstar forward Danny Granger, but they've put the ball in the hands of Paul George, and he has responded with a spectacular 3rd season in the NBA. He was recently picked to be an Eastern Conference All-Star. So, you know, next season Indy will have 3 highly regarded players on their team in Granger, George, and former Georgetown bigman Roy Hibbert. So, that must be really nice for them.

We've gotta win this one. We have to even the score from the beatdown they gave us -- while proving that they can move on from the horrible game they played in Los Angeles last night.

I believe in my franchise. I think that this current team can still make us believers this year too.

GO JAZZ GO!