The Phoenix Suns take their undefeated, post-All-Star record into Indianapolis to face the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers are 26-31 on the season and hold the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. The Suns at 29-27 are tenth in the West which just proves that while a few stars might have headed East, the West still has far more depth.
The Pacers are 9-4 under new head coach Frank Vogel but are coming off a home loss to the Utah Jazz. That's the same Utah Jazz team who lost last night to the Detroit Pistons (22-39) and who's only win since February 7 came in Indiana.
Indiana is still lead by dynamic wing Danny Granger (20 points per game) but have very little depth beyond that. Point guard Darren Collison gives them 13 points and five assists and center Roy Hibbert is the only other Pacer player of note. Hibbert started the season strong but had a horrible stretch in January but has since bounced back to being a 15 point per game scorer.
Fortunately, the Suns best defensive players match up with two of the Pacer's three top scorers and their fourth threat, Mike Dunleavy, is sidelined with a broken thumb. Bottom line, this is a game the Suns should be able to win with defense.
Aaron Brooks, the back up point guard traded this week for Goran Dragic, will make his debut in today's game. Dragic played his first game with the Houston Rockets in their win over the Nets last night. He had six points in 10 minutes.
This is the second game of the Suns current six-game road trip. They play tomorrow in New Jersey on the only back-to-back set of the trip.
Today's game tips off at 10 a.m. local time and will be broadcast in Phoenix on My45 TV. Fans can follow along with the live game thread at Bright Side of the Sun.