Size or speed: Which lineup will Pacers unleash on Nets?
The Indiana Pacers are doing a good job of using different lineups to create points off turnovers and that factor could be a recipe for success against the lowly Brooklyn Nets.
The Nets struggle to limit opponents in that department and have been awful on the road ahead of Friday night's matchup against a Pacers team that is 7-0 at home against Eastern Conference foes.
Indiana (15-9) has shown its versatility by occasionally employing a starting lineup with two big men with a presence in the post, as it did in Wednesday's 107-81 rout of Dallas in which Lavoy Allen and Ian Mahinmi started. Allen replaced C.J. Miles, who came off the bench.
Miles, who scored a team-high 20 points, doesn't mind the fact that his role changes. The varying usage of the Pacers' personnel is a major reason why they average 20.0 points off turnovers for one of the NBA's best marks.
"If a team is trying match up with that spread lineup or the big lineup because those guys run too, it's hard," Miles said. "We want to create a tempo to make their big guys have to run and make them have to match up."
It's not clear which lineup the Pacers will use against a Nets team that employs Brook Lopez at center and Thaddeus Young at power forward since Miles may be able to match up with Young.
Brooklyn (7-18) is yielding 18.0 points off turnovers and averaging 15.4 turnovers for two of the league's poorer marks. That puts pressure on point guard Jarrett Jack to control the tempo and prevent mistakes.
Jack had 22 points and 10 assists in Wednesday's 104-98 home loss to Miami. The Nets failed to contain Dwyane Wade, who had 28 points on 13-of-17 shooting.
Now Brooklyn faces another explosive guard in Monta Ellis, who scored all 19 points in the second half Wednesday in his first game against his former team.
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"First half, I had some good looks, they just weren't going down," Ellis said. "I got some easy buckets and shots just started falling. It was nothing personal, but Dallas was talking in the second half, a little. It probably got me going."
Indiana star Paul George has struggled in the last three games to average 16.0 points on 34.0 percent shooting. He averages 26.2 points on 43.7 percent shooting.
George was injured for the 2014-15 season series in which the Pacers lost two of three. He averaged 23.5 points on 52.3 percent shooting two seasons ago when Indiana swept four meetings.
Lopez made 12 of 16 shots for 25 points against the Heat. He totaled 32 on 11-of-29 shooting in his three previous games.
"It was a good bounce-back game," Lopez said. "You don't want to be happy with losing, it's still very disappointing."
Brooklyn is 1-11 on the road, including 0-6 against East foes. Indiana has won nine of its last 10 at home.
Nets reserve guard Donald Sloan had season highs of five points and 12 minutes Wednesday ahead of his return to Indiana, where he spent the previous two seasons.
