The Indiana Pacers will look to continue their strong charge to the regular-season finish line when they face the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday in Indianapolis.Indiana (44-31) has strengthened its grip on fourth position in the Eastern Conference after collecting seven wins from its past nine starts.That run was capped by a hard-earned 111-109 win over the Sacramento Kings on Monday.Aaron Nesmith scored 24 points, including 17 in the second half, as the Pacers overturned a 16-point deficit.Myles Turner (illness) and Bennedict Mathurin (calf) were sidelined — and are currently both listed as day-to-day — but it mattered little, as reserves Obi Toppin (19 points) and Jarace Walker (15) stepped up to combine for 8 of 14 threes.Consistent bench production has been a feature of Indiana’s season, and was described as “beautiful” by star point guard Tyrese Haliburton.”The great part of our depth and our roster is that in some games (the bench) don’t have it and we pick them up, and some games we don’t have it and they pick us up. And sometimes we both have it, and everybody’s happy,” said Haliburton, who paired 18 points with 11 assists, and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:17 to play.”It’s the beautiful thing about having depth. We’ve got a lot of faith in our bench. A big part of our team is our second group bringing energy, playing hard, playing the right way … we want to continue to see them play this way as we get into the playoffs because we’re going to need that. Last year our second unit was a really big part of why we had so much success in the playoffs.”With seven games to go before the Pacers’ playoff campaign commences, coach Rick Carlisle was direct when describing how the home stretch looks for his side.
