| PACERS | vs. | CLIPPERS |
 T.J. Ford |
Point Guard |
 Baron Davis |
 Dahntay Jones |
Shooting Guard |
 Rasual Butler |
 Danny Granger |
Small Forward |
 Al Thornton |
 Troy Murphy |
Power Forward |
 Marcus Camby |
 Roy Hibbert |
Center |  Chris Kaman |
 Mike Dunleavy |
Sixth Man |
 Eric Gordon |
 Jim O'Brien |
Coach |  Mike Dunleavy |
By Conrad Brunner | Dec. 5, 2009
The Pacers hope the last team they beat turns out to be the next.
Indiana (6-11) has lost four in a row since beating the Clippers 86-73 on Nov. 25. That also represents the Pacers' only victory in their last nine games.
They need a victory tonight to avoid a winless road trip. The Pacers dropped to 0-3 for the week with a 96-87 loss in Utah Friday. The Pacers fell behind 22-3 in the first quarter, rallied to within four in the fourth but couldn't make it all the way back.
"Our guys played with a tremendous amount of force when they got down, and they competed and they put themselves in a position to win, but we missed way too many foul shots (nine),” said Coach Jim O'Brien.
"For the second half, we defended them well. We held them to 37 percent shooting in the second half, and they’re a very good team. We played with force, but it wasn’t good enough to win. That’s the way the cookie crumbles.”
The Pacers hope to build on that second-half defensive performance. They have allowed 109.1 points in their losses, compared to 88.2 in victories. But the offense also has struggled, particularly in the bread-and-butter area of the 3-point shot. Indiana is 25th in the league with a .308 percentage and has his just .297 in the last nine.
"We go on these stretches where we get out of character, teams run up a lot of points and then we are trying to fight back at the end of the game," said Danny Granger. "We can’t win like that. We have to change that in Los Angeles.”
In the last meeting, the Pacers dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring the Clippers 31-14. Granger, who missed that game with a knee sprain, has missed the last three meetings with the Clippers.
That game marked Eric Gordon's return from an eight-game absence due to a groin injury but the former North Central High and Indiana University standout is questionable for tonight's game with a sore right hamstring. Gordon sat out the Clippers' loss to the Rockets Wednesday night.
Without Gordon, the Clippers are 3-6 this season and 3-10 overall.
TRENDS
Pacers -- Mike Dunleavy has averaged 12.8 points on .459 shooting but is just 3-of-14 from the 3-point line in his first four games of the season… T.J. Ford is 0-of-15 from the 3-point line this season and has missed his last 23 attempts dating back to March 28, 2009. … Granger has shot 52-of-138 (.377) in his last seven games. … Dahntay Jones has shot 24-of-64 (.375) in his last five. … Troy Murphy had his fifth double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) in Utah.Clippers -- Baron Davis has averaged 23.6 points in his last five games against the Pacers. … Al Thornton has averaged 17.9 points and 7.7 rebounds while shooting .525 from the field in the last 11 games. … Marcus Camby has averaged 11.3 points and 16.2 rebounds in the last five, which includes a 21-rebound game against the Pacers. … Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy is 12-6 in games against his son's Pacers and Warriors teams.
KEY MATCHUP
When last these teams met, the Clippers' talented frontline trio of Al Thornton, Marcus Camby and Chris Kaman combined to score just 30 points on 11-of-48 shooting (.229). Kaman in particular struggled through a 3-of-19 night. Those three have the potential to cause the Pacers big problems because all can score inside and out, causing defensive matchup and decision-making issues.INJURIES
Pacers - Josh McRoberts (sore toe) is day-to-day; Travis Diener (toe surgery) is out.Clippers - Eric Gordon (sore left hamstring) is questionable; Blake Griffin (knee) and Kareem Rush (knee) are out.
