By Tom Lewis

– Newsdesk contributor

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Dec 31, 2011 – The compact 2011-12 NBA schedule begins showing its teeth on Saturday night when the Indiana Pacers (3-0) visit the Detroit Pistons (0-3) at the Palace at Auburn Hills.

Both teams are playing their fourth game in six days after playing a game last night and then traveling to Detroit. The Pistons will look for their first win against the Pacers after remaining winless on the season with a 96-85 to the Boston Celtics on Friday night.

The Pacers remained undefeated after beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in overtime on Friday night. Then a post-game flight to Detroit was slowed by fog which didn’t allow the Pacers to arrive at their hotel until 3:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. The Pacers continue to struggle shooting the ball (FG% under 40% in all three wins) but make up for it with a strong, balanced attack and commitment to rebounding.

In the season opener at Indiana, the Pacers dominated the Pistons around the rim with a 53-40 rebound advantage and double-double contributions from Roy Hibbert, David West and Tyler Hansbrough. The Pistons will need to neutralize Indiana’s front court advantage with big games from the back court with Ben Gordon, Rodney Stuckey and rookie Brandon Knight scoring to lead the way.

The game tips off at 6:00 p.m. ET to accommodate your New Year’s Eve plans and will be televised on Fox Sports Indiana.

For more on the Indiana Pacers, check out Indy Cornrows. You can also head over to SB Nation’s main NBA hub at SBNation.com/NBA.

For more on the Indiana Pacers, check out Indy Cornrows. You can also head over to SB Nation’s main NBA hub at SBNation.com/NBA.

Read More: David West (F – IND), Ben Gordon (G – DET), Brandon Knight (G – DET), Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons

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Free-agent forward David West will be an Indiana Pacer for at least the next two-years after signing a $20 million deal with the team on Sunday.

The New Orleans Hornets had hoped to send West to the Boston Celtics as part of a sign-and-trade deal but those talks were ruled dead in the water on Sunday morning, leading to the Indiana trade.

West is a two-time all star who was drafted by New Orleans in 2003, he started 70 games last season and averaged 18.9 points with 7.6 rebounds. West was injured when he tore an anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during his teams match against Utah on March 25.

After undergoing reconstructive surgery on April 12 West turned down a $7.5 million offer that would have allowed him to play with the Hornets this season.

In the meantime the Indiana Pacers are said to be still in trade mode with advanced discussions underway with the Memphis Grizzlies which will send guard O.J. May to the pacers for free agent Josh McRoberts.

Also still in the running for positions with Indiana are Carl Landry and Andrei Kirilenko, both of whom are wanted by the Pacers front office.

Do you think the Indiana Pacers made a worthwhile acquisition by bringing David West into the fold?

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Pacers, coming off their first playoff appearance in five years, will open the home portion of the 2011-12 National Basketball Association schedule against the Boston Celtics, Saturday, Nov. 5 at 8:00 p.m.

The Pacers will begin the season on a two-game road trip, with their season opener at Detroit, Wed., Nov. 2, followed by a game at Oklahoma City, Fri., Nov. 4. The Pacers open with 12 of their first 19 games on the road, but after that have 10 of the next 12 in Conseco Fieldhouse, starting with a rematch with rising Western Conference power Oklahoma City, Tue., Dec. 6.

Home highlights include a second visit from the Celtics, Tue., Jan. 31; Eastern Conference champion Miami, Fri., Mar. 23 and Fri., Apr. 13; defending NBA champion Dallas, Tue., Feb. 7; the Los Angeles Lakers, Tue., Dec. 20, and two games against last season’s first-round playoff opponent, Chicago: Fri., Nov. 25, in the traditional 8:00 p.m. day after Thanksgiving game and Tue., Mar. 6.

All Pacers’ home games will begin at 7:00 p.m. except for Opening Night (8:00 p.m.); Chicago, Nov. 25 (8:00 p.m.); Utah, Sun., Dec. 18 (6:00 p.m.); and New Orleans, Sun., Feb. 19 (6:00 p.m.)

The Pacers have four scheduled national TV appearances: Sat., Nov. 12 at New York (NBATV); Fri., Dec. 2 at Portland (ESPN); Wed., Dec. 28 at Toronto (NBATV) and Wed., Jan. 4 at Chicago (NBATV).

All games will be on WIBC (93.1 FM). FOX Sports Indiana’s TV schedule will be announced at a later date.

Single game ticket sales information for all games will be announced at a later date. Season ticket packages are available now by calling (317) 917-2500 or by visiting Pacers.com.

Download 2011-12 schedule

(This story is a press release from the Indiana Pacers.)

By Travis Miller

– Associate Editor

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Jul 19, 2011 – Even though the NBA lockout has cast a pall over an otherwise exciting NBA season, the Indiana Pacers have released their 2011-12 schedule. Indiana has one nationally televised game this season, on December 2nd when they travel to Portland to face the Trailblazers. That game will be televised at 1pm on ESPN.

The Pacers the season with a pair of road games, starting Wednesday November 2nd at the Detroit Pistons. They play at the Oklahoma City Thunder two nights later before opening at home against the Boston Celtics on Saturday, November 5th. That game should bring quite a crowd, as the Celtics have Indianapolis native and Purdue All-American JaJuan Johnson. His teammate with the Boilermakers, E`Twaun Moore, was also selected by the Celtics in the second round of the NBA Draft.

Other games of note:

March 28th sees Shelvin Mack return with the Washington Wizards after leading the Butler Bulldogs to consecutive National Championship games.

December 18th will be the only visit of the Utah Jazz, with fellow Butler legend Gordon Hayward.

The Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant visit two nights after the Jazz.

The defending NBA Champions in the Dallas Mavericks visit on February 7th with Purdue legend Brian Cardinal

The Miami Heat will visit twice late in the season, on March 23rd and April 13th.

The regular home finale will be on April 16th against Washington.

The complete schedule can be found here.

Read More: Brian Cardinal (F – DAL), Kobe Bryant (G – LAL), E`Twaun Moore (G – Purdue), Shelvin Mack (G – Butler), Gordon Hayward (G – UTA), Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards, Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder, Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Lakers, Purdue Boilermakers, Butler Bulldogs

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (AFP) – Larry Bird will remain as the Indiana Pacers president of basketball operations with David Morway staying on as general manager of the NBA club, team owner Herb Simon announced on Tuesday.

The Pacers went 37-45 this past season and were ousted by NBA regular-season wins leader Chicago in the opening round of the playoffs.

“I’m quite pleased with the success we experienced this past season and pleased with the direction our team is going,” Simon said. “I’m glad Larry is staying to help us continue in the positive direction we are going.”

Bird, a college star in his native Indiana who became an NBA legend during his playing days with the Boston Celtics, coached the Pacers from 1997 through 2000 and took on his current job with his home-state club in 2003.

“The past few months have been the most enjoyable since I took over,” Bird said. “To see our young players develop, to see us make the playoffs and then to see us compete in a hard-fought series with Chicago are indications we are headed in the right direction.

“It has made me even more determined to help this team improve further and go to the next level.”

Bird’s first task will be to find a new coach. Frank Vogel has served on an interim basis since Jim O’Brien was fired in January after the Pacers began the season 17-27.

“I hope we can keep our core basketball group together and one of my first priorities will be to address the coaching situation,” Bird said.