The Indiana Pacers have taken it to some of the league's top teams and look to give the lowly Charlotte Bobcats a taste of defeat when the two teams clash Saturday night from Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Indiana has won three in a row and 12 of its last 15 games, including victories over Memphis, Miami and most recently New York. In Thursday's 81-76 triumph over the Knicks, Paul George earned his paycheck with 24 points, 11 rebounds, six steals and five assists.
"I was able to attack and make some plays," George said. "Shots just started to fall."
Ian Mahinmi was the only other Indiana player who finished in double figures, scoring 13 points off the bench. The Pacers took advantage of a Carmelo Anthony-less Knicks team and improved to 3-0 on a four-game homestand.
The Pacers are unbeaten in their last nine home games and own a 14-3 record in Indy this season. The Central Division leaders are 48-18 in their last 66 regular season games at the Fieldhouse.
Indiana will play three straight and seven of eight road games following Saturday's tilt with Charlotte.
On the injury front for the Pacers, center Roy Hibbert (back) left the game against New York and is questionable this evening.
Meanwhile, the Bobcats started a three-game road trip on a sour note and dropped a 99-78 decision to the Toronto Raptors Friday night.
Rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrest, Kemba Walker and Ben Gordon all scored 12 points in the loss, Charlotte's third in four tries. The Raptors outscored the Bobcats in every quarter and held the guests to 37.3 percent shooting.
"They play solid basketball," Bobcats coach Mike Dunlap said about Toronto. "They share the ball freely and they were able to find the paint. That's a tremendous coach over there and he stresses defense."
Ramon Sessions scored 11 points for the Bobcats, who fell to 9-26 overall this season and 4-12 away from home. Charlotte will close out the road swing Monday against the Boston Celtics.
The Bobcats opened the season with a 90-89 decision over Indiana on Nov. 2, but have dropped 10 of the past 12 meetings between the teams.
Charlotte has lost seven straight after winning its last two at Indiana, and is 3-12 in the 15 matchups as the guest in this series.
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