Pacers open home stretch with visit from Mavericks

The Indiana Pacers begin a pivotal five-game homestand on Wednesday when the slumping Dallas Mavericks come to Indianapolis.

The Pacers (38-29) head into the closing 15-game stretch of the regular season vying for home-court advantage in an opening-round playoff series.

Indiana is tied with the Milwaukee Bucks for the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference standings. The Bucks own the tiebreaker, having won the regular-season series after Saturday’s 126-119 decision in Milwaukee.

The surprising Detroit Pistons loom in sixth, matching Indiana and Milwaukee in the win column entering Tuesday’s games, with the Bucks set to face the Golden State Warriors.

The Pacers not only play their next five games at home, they have eight of their next 10 on their home court. Indiana goes into the critical run on a high note, rebounding from Saturday’s setback at Milwaukee with a 132-130 overtime win at Minnesota on Monday.

Monday’s win was an opportunity for Indiana to demonstrate its depth, with Bennedict Mathurin scoring 22 points while starting in place of Tyrese Haliburton. Haliburton sat out with a back injury, alongside fellow starters Pascal Siakam (personal), Myles Turner (hip) and Aaron Nesmith (ankle). Haliburton and Siakam are questionable for Tuesday’s game while Turner and Nesmith aren’t listed on the report..

Eight Indiana players scored in double-figures to fill the void, including Obi Toppin with a season-high 34 points. He also grabbed 10 rebounds for his second double-double with at least 30 points since last month.

“We’ve got great guys on this team who know their jobs,” Toppin said. “Everybody on this team is a very good NBA player. … They know what they’ve got to do when they come into the game, and they’re thirsty. Everybody don’t play every single game.”

Depth is a concern for a fading Mavericks (33-36), who are on a three-game losing skid following a 130-125 home loss on Sunday to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Already thin in the frontcourt with Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford sidelined with injuries, the Mavericks absorbed a backcourt loss early into Sunday’s defeat when Dante Exum broke his hand.

Exum, who did join the lineup until Jan. 31 after recovering from offseason wrist surgery, began to see a more prominent role with All-Star Kyrie Irving out due to a torn ACL. Mavericks coach Jason Kidd called Irving’s injury earlier this month a “freak accident.”

Irving was averaging 24.7 points per game, the team-high after last month’s surprising trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Davis. Davis had 26 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and three blocked shots in his lone appearance with the Mavericks on Feb. 8.

In the 16 games Davis has missed with an adductor injury, Dallas is 5-11 and losing ground in the race for a Western Conference play-in round bid. The Mavericks are in 10th place, good for the final spot, but had their lead over 11th-place Phoenix whittled down to one game following the Suns’ blowout victory over the Toronto Raptors on Monday.

“We’re professionals and our job is to come out here and perform regardless of the circumstances that we’re in,” the Mavs’ Max Christie said, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Christie was a bright spot in Monday’s loss to Philadelphia, coming off the bench to hit 4 of 6 shots from 3-point range en route to 18 points. Dallas also got 29 points and 12 rebounds from P.J. Washington in his first full game since Feb. 25.