Several teams in the Eastern Conference are fighting for the final two spots in the playoff standing, but almost no one truly controls their own destiny in order to make it happen. The Indiana Pacers are one of those teams as they need some magic to get them into postseason basketball. The team has momentum in their favor since getting Paul George back in the mix. Aiming to get their sixth win in a row, they face the Washington Wizards who are excelling at just the right moment.
The Pacers need help. Currently, the team is one game behind the Boston Celtics who are in seventh place. The Celtics hold the tiebreaker in that situation. Indiana can only hope for the eighth spot. In order to get that, they must finish with a better record than the Brooklyn Nets who just fell to the Chicago Bulls. Indiana plays the Wizards on Monday and Memphis on Wednesday to close out the season. Getting both wins would certainly help the case for the playoffs.
The Pacers are playing playoff basketball at the moment. During their win streak they are averaging 106.0 points and shooting 43.9 percent from long range. Getting George back into the mix has certainly be an x-factor for Indiana. He has been slightly inconsistent scoring just 10.3 points on 38.2 percent shooting in his last four games, but he slowly improving getting a dunk in the win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Wizards are locked into the postseason and are now simply concerned about improving before starting the playoffs. The team has won five of their last six after being on a 10-18 run during January through March. The team could really use for John Wall to improve. The point guard is averaging just 17.6 points per game which is his fewest in the last three seasons. Meanwhile his 10.0 assists per game which is a career high for the point guard. That has resulted in the Wizards averaging 28.2 assists per game over the last six games.
This game factors into both teams. The Pacers need a win in order to get into the postseason. Meanwhile the Wizards are preparing to face either the Toronto Raptors or the Chicago Bulls as they linger around the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.
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