Waiting on the Pacers vs. Lakers

The Kobe Show is in town as the Los Angeles Lakers arrive for their annual game against the Pacers Friday night. Here is the preview from Pacers.com. The Pacers should be fresh and ready for the Lakers, having just played one game in the past five days. Other thoughts:

• Since the trade, the Pacers have relied on their depth to win games with various player combinations coming up big at different times. The depth may get an additional boost with the return of David Harrison and the debut of Keith McCloud. With Murphy and Foster helping JO up front, Harrison's inconsistent play shouldn't be an issue. If he can give some good minutes great, if not, try again next game.
• Keith McCloud should find it hard to carve out many minutes. The way Darrell Armstrong has played lately, I can't imagine McCloud taking much if any of DA's time.
• DA and Jamaal Tinsley have been playing at the same time occasionally in recent games. They seem to have developed a nice chemistry between them whether their on the court at the same time or not. In fact, in the post-game interview after the Celtics' game, Tins was gushing about DA's presence on the team and how helpful he's been to JT's game.
• Marquis Daniels remains day-to-day but after over a week off he should be ready to go. UPDATE: Bruno updated the game preview and 'Quis is out tonight. Hmm, something more than tindinitis...
  
• The Lakers handled the Pacers in their LA meeting back in December, 101-87.
• Bruno has more on JO's All-Star selection. Surprisingly, this All-Star appearance puts JO at the top of the list for the number of All-Star appearances by a Pacer. He sounded surprised by that news, but stayed humble and said all the right things.

"Is that right?" O'Neal said when so informed. "You know what? This team has been good to me. The staff has been good to me. Obviously, you can't play this game without having good players around you or having a good system built for you. (Making the All-Star team) is strictly a sign of my teammates putting me in a good position to excel and a lot of it is coming from my summer workouts with the coaching staff, the training staff, the strength and conditioning staff. There's a lot of different things that go into a player making the All-Star team. You've got to do a lot of things right but you've got to have a lot of help from your teammates and coaching staff."

• The Chair Thrower from the Palace Brawl spends a little time in the hooscow. Apparently genius missed a probation hearing and the judge was having none of it.