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The Indiana Pacers are having a roller coaster ride this NBA season with three wins and as many losses but Nate McMillan's men have lost all their away games so far and will look to reverse the trend in the game against the Charlotte Hornets at the Spectrum Center on Monday (Nov 7). However, the Pacers, who are ranked tenth in the Eastern Conference table at the moment will not find it easy against the Hornets who are doing much better with four wins and one loss. The Hornets are ranked second now, just behind Cleveland Cavaliers who are yet to lose a game. The one game that Steve Clifford's men have lost was against the Boston Celtics at their home on October 29. 

So, venue wise, this match promises a lot. The Pacers will go into the match after their emphatic win (111-94) over the Chicago Bulls on Saturday (Nov 5) in Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The team did extremely well to overcome the defense-related issues, something that created concern for them in the first five matches. Now, they will look to better their away record.

That winning away games is a concern for the Pacers could be understood from what their forward CJ Miles said. "It's easy to play at home when you've got your 15 guys on the bench and everybody in the building rooting for you," he said, according to a report in NBA.com. "When you go on the road, it's just your 15 guys. So we've got to make sure that from the bench that we're into the game, talking to everybody on the floor so everybody gets after it," he added.

History favors the Hornets who beat the Pacers 108-101 in Charlotte in March. It was the former's third win over the latter in a month. While the Hornets won two games in Bankers Life Fieldhouse, the Pacers lost three of their last four games in Charlotte.

The Hornets, on the other hand, are a strong defensive unit. As Clifford himself prefers, the team this time is no exception and is ranked third in terms of defensive efficiency, according to NBA.com/Stats. But apart from the defense of the Hornets, the Pacers will also have to keep a look on Kemba Walker, the 6-foot guard. The Pacers have much to do in tackling fast point guards, as their performance early in the season has shown and this match will be the moment to register an improvement. The Pacers will also be remembering how they had struggled against the Walker-Nicolas Batum combination in the game in March.

The Hornets are a confident lot this time as well and Walker's words reflected it. "We're just building off of last year," Walker told the team's website, according to www.keyt.com.

For the Pacers, Rodney Stuckey is down with a hamstring injury while for the Hornets, Jeremy lamb, Roy Hibbert, and Marvin Williams are out because of injury and illness.

Prediction of this game's result? Hornets, for sure.