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The Pacers will make themselves feel at home in Fort Wayne on Thursday when they wrap up preseason play against the Charlotte Hornets at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
Frank Vogel said he planned to play his starters heavy minutes again, as he did in Chicago on Tuesday to increase their game condition in the final dress rehearsal. Although, it appears Ian Mahinmi and Monta Ellis will join Jordan Hill on the sidelines tonight. Paul George played 35 minutes in Chicago, so we'll see how he fares with another heavy workload two days later.
With six days off before opening the season in Toronto next week, this game should play close to the real thing. Vogel will play a deeper rotation to allow some position battles to continue playing out, but tracking the early playing rotations should be a good indicator of which players hold the edge in those battles.
The Hornets are undefeated in preseason play and present an interesting matchup for the Pacers with a pretty long lineup that includes Marvin Williams, Cody Zeller and Al Jefferson on the front line. The Pacers spread lineup will be difficult for the trio to keep up with, but handling the size on the defensive end will put pressure on the Pacers.
For more on the Hornets, check out At The Hive and please add your thoughts and observations on the action in the comments.
2015-16 NBA Preseason | ||
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October 22, 2015 - 7:00 p.m. ET | ||
Allen County War Memorial Coliseum - Fort Wayne, IN | ||
TV: FOX Sports Indiana ---- Radio: AM 1070/107.5 FM The Fan | ||
Probable Starters | ||
Kemba Walker | PG | George Hill |
Nicolas Batum | SG | Rodney Stuckey |
Marvin Williams | SF | C.J. Miles |
Cody Zeller | PF | Paul George |
Al Jefferson | C | Lavoy Allen |