Tonight at 7:00 p.m. from Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indiana, the undefeated Pacers (7-0) will try to extend the greatest start in franchise history in front of the home fans against the Memphis Grizzlies (3-3) who will try to use grit and grind to knock them off the pedestal. Live stream the game here; Grizzlies fans can listen to the game on 92.9 ESPN Memphis, while Pacers fans can hear the action on 1070 The Fan.
While Indiana has gotten off to the franchise's best start ever, this group has tasted playoff glory, and wants to finish the job this season. That means not getting caught up in an early-season streak.
"I really don't get too caught up in the historical value of it, other than we're ahead of the race," coach Frank Vogel said. "We're trying to get the (No.) 1 seed to put ourselves in the position come playoff time with the best chance to come out of the East."
Paul George entered the year as a budding superstar, but he's already morphed into a full-fledged franchise player. "We're just going out, playing the game," George said. "Everybody is dialed in. We're not worried about keeping the streak alive, we're just worried about going out there and playing our hardest and winning a ballgame."
The Grizzlies, unlike Indiana, were slow out of the gate and just now appear to be gaining their footing. Head coach Dave Joerger said, "I don't think we're fixed. I don't think it's as broken as people think it was last week. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that all is well in the world of Grizzlies basketball. I (feel) like we're going in the right direction."
The key for Memphis tonight will be establishing power forward Zach Randolph in the paint. Randolph is averaging 13.2 points and 5.7 rebounds entering this game, and faces a brutal matchup against Indiana's bruising frontline.
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