Indiana Pacers News

Pacers Links: Pacers roll into Portland at 16-1 after road win over Clippers

The Pacers started their monster road trip with a big win over the Clippers at Staples Center which sets up a back-to-back matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers who also won in Los Angeles on Sunday.

By Tom Lewis@IndyCornrows Dec 2, 2013, 9:00am EST

If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

The Pacers made themselves feel right at home in the Western Conference as they took the first of five games against teams from the West by making just enough plays down the stretch to beat the Los Angeles Clippers.

As the Pacers made their way to Portland following the game, the Blazers took over Staples to hold on and beat the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday evening. At least the Lakers made the Blazers work in the end. So now Indiana and Portland will meet on similar terms when you consider both playing on a back-to-back with travel time from L.A. figured in, but the Blazers will enjoy that raucous home-court advantage which should make for a special environment tonight.

Oh, and the Blazers are 4-0 in their previous back-to-backs this year, so the Pacers will have to focus on slowing down the offense Portland can throw at them.

Hopefully, the Pacers enjoyed some rest last night. They had to expend a lot of effort against the Clippers and appeared fatigued down the stretch (as did the Clips). Paul George in particular looked tired and played tired toward the end of the third quarter (he did have 25 points by then, of course), which is something I discussed on The Phil Naessens Showwhich you can listen to here or in the player below.