Inconsistent Pacers open two-game set vs. skidding Nets

The Brooklyn Nets head to Indianapolis looking for a much-needed win against the playoff-bound Indiana Pacers on Thursday night in the first of a back-to-back between the two teams.Brooklyn (23-46) has limped through the past four weeks, losing 11 of 13 games to fall out of the race for a play-in spot.The Nets enter the Thursday contest coming off a 104-96 road loss to the Celtics on Tuesday, falling despite Boston being without stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Brooklyn did beat Atlanta 122-114 on Sunday for just its second win since Feb. 22.There were a few small pluses from the Boston visit that Nets coach Jordi Fernandez hopes his team can take into the two-game mini series against the Pacers.”(Boston) is playing for different goals and they have different goals, but it’s just another game,” Fernandez said. “Now going into a doubleheader with Indiana and that’s going to be a different team, so you just have to move on to the next one. Obviously, we want to learn from what we did (Tuesday). The physicality and the defense we brought in, the rebounding against a bigger team. Keep the positives, try to clean up the negatives, find those 3-point shooters.”D’Angelo Russell paced the Nets with 18 points and seven assists against the Celtics. He is averaging 13.5 points and 5.8 assists per game since he was acquired from the Los Angeles Lakers in a December trade.Cameron Johnson, who scored 11 points on Tuesday, will sit out on Thursday as the team gives him a rest.Indiana (39-29) enters the Thursday game coming off a turbulent 135-131 win over the visiting Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday.The win puts the Pacers one game ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks and the Detroit Pistons in the race for the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Indiana lost four out of six games from Feb. 28-March 10 but has since won four of the past five.