me this season, defeating the Orlando Magic on Monday and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday. Despite the .500 overall record, the Pacers are

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Pacers will look to keep their strong week going as they host the Phoenix Suns on Friday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.The Pacers (6-6) have won consecutive games for the first time this season, defeating the Orlando Magic on Monday and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday. Despite the .500 overall record, the Pacers are 6-1 on their home court.Were slowly building day by day, said Pacers center Myles Turner. Weve got to keep the ball rolling.Coach Nate McMillan is seeing the improvement on the defensive end.Weve gone back to focusing on the basics, McMillan said. We were switching a lot, but that was making us too soft. Weve gone back to working hard and just playing traditional defense.Turner added: To be the team we want to be, and to go where we want to go, weve got to be a good defensive team.The Pacers and Suns have both been much better on the offensive end compared to the defensive end overall this year. It could make for a high-scoring game.Theyve got some good guards, said Pacers point guard Jeff Teague. We have to make sure we match their intensity.Those guards include Devin Booker (20.5 points per game), Eric Bledsoe (17.5), and Brandon Knight (12.8).The Suns (3-9) have lost three straight games. Theyre averaging 108 points per game, good enough for fifth in the NBA. However, theyre also fifth-worst in the NBA in defensive efficiency (107 points allowed per 100 possessions).Phoenix has scored over 100 points in every game except the opener, but still has nine losses to show for it. That will happen when you give up the most points per game in the NBA as the Suns have so far this season.Theyve given up 120 points or more in three consecutive games for the first time since 1988.Were 3-9, Suns guard Brandon Knight told ESPN.com. Our goal was to be a playoff team, so we have a lot of major issues.Knight scored a season-high 32 points in the losing effort against Denver on Wednesday. Hes been getting more accustomed to his role off the Suns bench.Its not an easy transition, Knight said of being a sixth man. Just trying to figure out a routine. Thats the biggest thing. Youve had a routine over the past five, six years. Just trying to figure out how to be successful within the time youre playing and how to pace yourself because you can play long spurts as a bench guy.Both teams are in the midst of a critical early season stretch. The Pacers have been playing a lot of home games lately, and that will continue with four of their next five games in Indianapolis. The next six games for the Suns will be against the Pacers, Sixers, Wizards, Magic, Timberwolves, and Magic. Those teams have a combined 22-44 record, and the Suns will need to take advantage.For the first time in several weeks, Rodney Stuckey is listed as questionable for the Pacers. He will be returning soon from a hamstring injury.The Pacers won both games against the Suns last season, but Phoenix has won eight of their previous 11 trips to Indiana.Wholesale Jordan Retro 11 . Brad Jacobs and his Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., team took control of the game early. Cheap Air Jordan 11 . Roman Josi had a goal and an assist to lead the Predators to a 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Monday night. http://www.airjordan11canada.com/ .C. -- Glenn Howard needed an extra end to move into the Masters Grand Slam of Curling final. Discount Air Jordan 11 . Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, announced Wednesday that the team would assign Swedish forward Elias Lindholm to his nations team for the upcoming tournament. Cheap Jordan 11 Online . Both players have lower body injuries that will keep them out of the lineup until at least January 31, which is the first game they can be activated from IR.Two matches scheduled in Delhi during the next round of the Ranji Trophy from November 13 have been moved out of the city because of high levels of air pollution.The Group B fixture between Assam and Odisha, originally scheduled at the Karnail Singh Stadium, was shifted to Hyderabad, while the Hyderabad-Services game in Group C was moved from the Feroz Shah Kotla to Mumbai.The decision to shift the matches came after two fifth-round games in Delhi - between Gujarat and Bengal and between Hyderabad and Tripura - were cancelled without a ball bowled because of poor visibility and pollution. The BCCI had said both matches would be played after the league phase. With only seven days between the end of the league phase and the quarter-finals slated to begin on December 17, the scheduling of the knockouts is likely to be aaffected.ddddddddddddWe havent taken a decision on the knockouts yet .We are just waiting for this [the current round] to go through, a BCCI official told ESPNcricinfo. Based on [how] this [round goes], we will take a call. We will go one step at a time. He also said there was no decision yet on whether the three matches in Delhi from November 21 to 25 would be moved out.For over a week now, people in Delhi have suffered from a dense layer of smog, believed to be an after-effect of Diwali fireworks as well as the burning of paddy stubble in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana. During the previous round of games, players had complained of burning eyes and were seen wearing masks. ' ' '