For more than a month now, Houston has been consistently inconsistent, and enters Indy off of a 21-point loss on the road vs. the T-wolves. The Rockets' back-and-forth seemed to begin when Dillon Brooks first went out with injury; though he's returned, Houston's performances have continued to be uneven. Now Fred VanVleet (abductor strain) is iffy for tonight. We have a sense that the Pacers are about to go on a nice uptick, having cleared a tough part of the schedule, Pascal Siakam now very settled in after his addition last month, and Tyrese Halliburton back from injury (though he might be a game-time decision as Rick Carlisle plays it careful with his recovery from a hamstring. Play Pacers

It's been a stretch for Jabari Smith but we are getting a significant discount in what is a fantastic matchup. Smith is undoubtedly in a rut but the Pacers fittingly lead the league in pace of play and possess the 5th worth defense. It also helps that the Pacers surrender the most points to opposing PFs in the league this season. I expect Jabari to be aggressive in this matchup and he is too talented not to break out of the mini slump he is.