Indiana @ Dallas preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 27, 2017 ) Dallas 98, Indiana 94

The Indiana Pacers are winners of four in a row and are only one game behind the Cleveland Cavaliers for the No. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference. The Pacers will try to make it five straight when they open a four-game trip by visiting the lowly Dallas Mavericks on Monday.

Indiana gets the luxury of starting its road trip against two teams near the bottom of their respective conference with a trip to Atlanta on tap for Wednesday and came out of the All-Star break by blasting the Hawks 116-93 at home on Friday. The Pacers dominated the glass in the win, piling up a 62-45 rebounding advantage, and tied a season high with 17 steals. The Mavericks are last in the NBA in rebounding differential at minus-4.7 and enter the week losers of four straight and 11 of the last 13. Dallas actually came out even on the boards against the Utah Jazz in a 97-90 loss on Saturday after getting blasted in that department by a 69-37 margin at the Los Angeles Lakers coming out of the All-Star break on Friday.

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FS Indiana, FS Southwest (Dallas)

ABOUT THE PACERS (34-25): Indiana added a significant piece to its bench on Friday, when swingman Glenn Robinson III made his season debut after recovering from ankle surgery. The 24-year-old managed four points and a pair of rebounds in 19 minutes and received a standing ovation from the crowd when he entered the game. "I've got great teammates around me and a great coaching staff who believe in me and who really just want to see me out there so bad and were just as excited as I was," Robinson told reporters. "I think everybody in this locker room was excited and happy for me."

ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (18-42): Dallas rookie point guard Dennis Smith Jr. slumped to seven points on 2-of-11 shooting on Saturday and is 7-of-27 from the floor in the two games following the All-Star break. The North Carolina State product, who is averaging 14.7 points on 38.9 percent shooting on the season, failed to hit 40 percent of his shots in six of nine games this month. "In this league there's oftentimes the most growth comes from the greatest struggles," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle told reporters of Smith. "And he's got to go through some of this. He's doing some good things, but it's tough right now. It's tough right now for the whole team. I thought he gave good effort, got into some tough spots and there's another game in two days, so here they come."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Pacers SG Lance Stephenson handed out a season-high eight assists on Friday.

2. Mavericks PF Dirk Nowitzki recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds on Saturday.

3. Dallas pulled off a 98-94 upset at Indiana on Dec. 27.

PREDICTION: Pacers 108, Mavericks 92