Game Preview: Pacers at 76ers

Last Updated: March 9, 2019 at 5:30 PM ET

The Pacers will play their most important game yet this season on Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia. The game will air nationally on ABC, and rightly so, as this contest will have major ramifications on the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Indiana will enter the showdown at 42-24, a game ahead of the 76ers (41-25) for third place in the East.

The winner of Sunday's contest will in all likelihood secure the head-to-head tiebreaker over the other. The Sixers have a 2-1 lead in the season series and will definitely have the tiebreaker if they win on Sunday. If the Pacers win and force a split in the season series, the next tiebreaker is conference record. Indiana is currently 29-14 against Eastern Conference opponents, two games better than Philadelphia (23-16) in the loss column.

PLAYOFF PICTURE: Track the Pacers' Playoff Push »

The Pacers are coming off a 117-98 loss on Thursday night in Milwaukee. Indiana trailed by just four at halftime, but the East-leading Bucks pulled away in the second half to roll to a convincing victory.

The Blue & Gold knows it will need a much better effort to come away with a win on Sunday.

"We have to show road toughness," Pacers center Myles Turner said after the loss to the Bucks. "We're going to be on the road a lot this month and the rest of the season. These are the types of games we have to be in and win."

Both Indiana and Philadelphia could potentially get key players back on Sunday. Pacers center Domantas Sabonis, who has a team-leading 24 double-doubles this season, has not played since spraining his ankle late in a loss at Detroit on Feb. 25. On the other side, Sixers All-Star center Joel Embiid has been out since the All-Star break to rest a sore left knee, but is targeting a possible return against the Pacers.

Darren Collison

Wesley Matthews

Bojan Bogdanovic

Thaddeus Young

Myles Turner

Ben Simmons

JJ Redick

Jimmy Butler

Tobias Harris

Amir Johnson

Pacers: PG - Darren Collison, SG - Wesley Matthews, SF - Bojan Bogdanovic, PF - Thaddeus Young, C - Myles Turner
76ers: PG - Ben Simmons, SG - JJ Redick, SF - Jimmy Butler, PF - Tobias Harris, C - Amir Johnson

Pacers: Tyreke Evans - questionable (upper respiratory infection), Alize Johnson - questionable (sore left foot), Domantas Sabonis - questionable (sprained left ankle), Victor Oladipo - out (right knee surgery)

76ers: Joel Embiid - questionable (left knee soreness), Furkan Korkmaz - out (torn meniscus, right knee), Boban Marjanović - out (bone bruise, mild sprain, right knee)

January 17, 2019: Philadelphia made 18 3-pointers and had three players surpass the 20-point plateau in a 120-96 victory over Indiana at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Jimmy Butler led Philadelphia with 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting, five rebounds, and eight assists in the victory. Joel Embiid added 20 points, 13 boards, and eight assists, while JJ Redick added 20 points while going 6-for-9 from 3-point range and dished out five assists.

Thaddeus Young led the Pacers with 27 points in the loss on 11-of-17 shooting. All-Star guard Victor Oladipo joined him in double figures with 15 points and seven assists, but struggled with his shot, converting just 6-of-20 attempts.

"They kicked our (butt)," Oladipo said. "There's no other way around it. They just kicked our (butt) every which way from start to finish."

The Pacers return home to host their old rivals, the New York Knicks, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Tuesday, March 12 at 7:00 PM ET. Find Tickets »

TV: ABC - Mark Jones (play-by-play), Hubie Brown (analyst), Israel Gutierrez (sideline reporter)
Radio: 107.5 FM/1070 AM The Fan - Mark Boyle (play-by-play), Pat Boylan (studio host)