The Hornets play a segababa today in Indianapolis, trying to shake off last night’s overtime loss in Detroit and beat a surging, up-tempo Pacers team.

The Pacers (14-25) have won three straight, averaging 116ppg in beating the Raptors, Suns and Nets. They were in New Jersey just last night, but got up big early and cruised to the victory, with nobody playing more than 34 minutes. Starting shooting guard Luther Head did suffer an ankle sprain last night and is questionable against the Hornets, though he’s only been playing a handful of minutes recently anyway.

New Orleanian Danny Granger has been back from injury for the past five games, and has really returned to form in the last two, shooting 50 percent from the field and scoring 61 total points. Granger has been getting solid support from Troy Murphy (17.2ppg, 13rpg the last five) and Mike Dunleavy (17ppg the last five). Point guard T.J. Ford is healthy but has either been inactive or a DNP-CD for the last seven games.

Some numbers:

Pace: Pacers 100.1 (2nd), Hornets 94.1 (22nd)
Offensive Efficiency: Pacers 99.3 (26th), Hornets 104.1 (16th)
Defensive Efficiency: Pacers 104.0 (16th), Hornets 105.7 (20th)

This game was originally scheduled for 6 Central, but was moved forward an hour because of the later Colts playoff game. Unfortunately, CST won’t be broadcasting it, so catch it on League Pass if you can.

And if you can’t, Who Dat baby!

Linkage:

• Ryan’s game preview
• Journals: Rookie Marcus Thornton: Steal of the Draft
• Rival bloggers: Eight Points, Nine Seconds (THN) | Indy Cornrows | Pacers Insider

(Many thanks to Dariusz for today’s banner featuring Darrell Armstrong, one of the toughest players the Hornets have ever seen. Be sure to check out more of Dariusz’s designs in our Wallpapers vault.)