Tonight's Matchup: Pacers at the Hornets

The New Orleans Hornets return home tonight after a long road trip to face the Indiana Pacers, tipping-off at 7 p.m.

The Hornets have lost their last 10 straight, the last win back on Dec. 3 when they pulled out all the stops in overcoming the Milwaukee Bucks 102-81 at home.

Hornets Head Coach Monty Williams doesn’t think it feels strange to return to the Arena after losing on the road the night before.

“I’ve been in the league for a while. It just happens,” Williams said. “But I can see that being strange for our young guys. It’ll be interesting to see how we treat it.”

The Pacers, on the other hand, have been on fire of late, and have won five of their last six games, the latest last night on the road against Cleveland. Former Hornet David West, who is a probable starter tonight, played 33 minutes last night against the Cavaliers, tallying 15 points and pulling in ten rebounds for a team-high eighth double-double on the season.

“They’re a good team,” said Williams. “They got a chance to make some 3s down the stretch. They made the shots, but we had some breakdowns.”

Williams says the Hornets are prepared to watch the inside tonight, too. “Anytime you’re playing against a big tandem like West and Hibbert, you’ve got to take care of the paint, for sure.”

This is the second meeting between the teams this season. Their last matchup came back on Nov. 21 at Banker’s Life Field House, when the Hornets lost their second straight game to Indiana in overtime, 107-115.