The Pacers come to town tonight and face a depleted Pelicans roster that just dropped a game versus the Utah Jazz.  Anthony Davis and Ryan Anderson have both been officially ruled out with injuries and the Pelicans will have to scrape together as much offensive production as they can. Here are some keys to the game.

The Pacers have one of the best rim protectors in the league in Roy Hibbert, who has made a pretty good living by dominating the paint on defense. Tyreke has a tough task tonight, because Hibbert should be really good at stopping his forays to the rim.

Some questions:

1. Can Asik be a monster on the offensive boards tonight? If Hibbert is going to leave him to contest shots at the rim, it is paramount for Asik to make him pay, either by finishing on dump-offs from the guards or by cleaning the O glass. He needs to be a factor.

2. Can the starting unit create offense? The temporary starting unit of Gordon-Tyreke-DC-Ajinca-Asik was lucky that Gordon’s outside shot was on the other night, because 3 of the 5 starters didn’t make it into double figures vs. the Jazz. Someone besides Gordon and Tyreke needs to be a threat. The most capable? Ajinca. Will he respond?

3. Can Ajinca’s defensive length bother David West? West is extremely good at creating space for his shot, and he’s strong enough to move Ajinca.. but Ajinca is much longer than DWest, so he will have to create a bit of extra space tonight.

Thoughts on the game? Predictions? Leave them below!