The Indiana Pacers shoot for their first 4-0 start at home in nine years this evening when they welcome the Atlanta Hawks to Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Indiana, though, enters tonight's tilt on a sour note after getting run over by the red-hot Philadelphia 76ers, 96-86, on Monday.
Roy Hibbert ended with 19 points and eight boards for the Pacers, who played without forward Danny Granger (food poisoning). David West added 15 points and 11 boards. Granger is questionable for tonight's tilt.
"It's still early in the season," Hibbert said. "Unfortunately, we lost, but there are a lot more games to go. Hopefully we can get them the next time."
Paul George and Dahntay Jones chipped in with 13 and 12 points, respectively, for Indiana, which had a brief two-game winning streak snapped.
"We didn't defend at a high enough level," coach Frank Vogel said after Mondays defeat.
Now Indiana returns home, where they will be trying to win their first four games of a season for the first time since opening the 2002-03 campaign with seven consecutive victories.
Atlanta, meanwhile, has won its last three after a hard-fought win over the New Jersey Nets on Monday. Josh Smith scored 26 points to pace the Hawks to a 106-101 win, their third victory this season against the Nets.
Joe Johnson added 22 points and Jeff Teague had 20 for the Hawks, who have won three in a row since their triple-overtime loss to Miami last Thursday.
"I'm just starting off aggressively and setting the tempo for me and my teammates," Smith said.
The Hawks were forced to play Monday's contest without forward Marvin Williams, who sprained his left ankle in a win over Chicago on Sunday. He is questionable for tonight's affair.
Atlanta has won 11 of its last 15 overall against the Pacers, but have dropped six of nine in Indiana.
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