NBA Preview: Indiana Pacers (34-8) vs. Denver Nuggets (20-21)

January 28, 2013; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Ty Lawson (3) drives past Indiana Pacers guard Paul George (24) during the second half at the Pepsi Center. The Nuggets won 102-101. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

The Denver Nuggets (20-21) are coming off of a heart-breaking loss to the Portland Trailblazers on Thursday night where they gave up a 15-point lead in the third quarter and ended up losing by the final score of 110-105. Nuggets forward Wilson Chandler scored what was a team-high 18 points but it wasn’t enough to hold off Trailblazers power forward LaMarcus Aldridge.

What: Indiana Pacers vs. Denver Nuggets
When: Saturday, January 25th
Where: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
Time: 9:00 PM ET, 7:00 PM MT
TV: Altitude Sports

This is the first of two games between the two teams as Denver runs into a highly touted Eastern Conference team that is an impressive 34-8 on the season. One main reason why the team is where they are at is because of star forward Paul George. George just recently dropped 36 points in an overtime win Friday over the Sacramento Kings, pushing them to a 116-111 victory.

Bad news for Denver is that Indiana has played well against the Western Conference teams sitting at 12-3. Nuggets are one of the streakiest teams in basketball and have the talent to defeat anyone, but look to prevent a fourth-straight loss tonight. Here is what rookie head coach Brian Shaw had to say about the loss to Portland via ESPN:

"“I think our offense, especially in the fourth quarter, failed us,” said Nuggets coach Brian Shaw, a Pacers assistant from 2011-13. “I thought we had played a pretty decent game for a good 40 minutes, 42 minutes, maybe even more than that, 44 minutes of the game, but didn’t play a complete 48-minute game.”"

Star point guard for the Denver Nuggets Ty Lawson has been struggling shooting the ball of late. The former Tar Heel is shooting 17.6% percent from deep in his last 17 attempts. He would go 0-for-4 in the fourth quarter against the Portland Trailblazers, disappearing from our very eyes. Lawson however was shooting 37.3% percent from behind-the-arc in the teams first 34 games.

Projected Starting Line-Ups: 

Indiana Pacers:

PG: George Hill
SG: Lance Stephenson
SF: Paul George
PF: David West
C: Roy Hibbert

Denver Nuggets:

PG: Ty Lawson
SG: Randy Foye
SF: Wilson Chandler
PF: Kenneth Faried
C: J.J. Hickson