Indiana (45-31) have won four straight and are lurking one game behind Cleveland for the Central Division after a 106-103 victory at Sacramento on Thursday night. Bojan Bogdanovic continued his strong recent play with 25 points while Victor Oladipo added 13 of his 24 in the fourth quarter for the Pacers, whose trip concludes Tuesday night at Denver.
Though playing well, the Pacers have been overtaken by the 76ers for fourth in the Eastern Conference, trailing them by one-half game for home-court advantage in the first round. Indiana do have a three-game lead over sixth-place Washington with six games remaining.
Los Angeles (41-35) are tied with Denver for ninth in the Western Conference, two games behind New Orleans for the final playoff berth after being outclassed 105-96 at Portland on Friday night. Lou Williams had 23 points off the bench, but the Clippers struggled to keep up with the ball movement of the Blazers, who recorded 30 assists and scored 60 points in the paint.
The good news for the Clippers is they control their destiny down the stretch. They play five of their final six games at home, and the four after this contest are against teams within two games in the standings.