Sixers at Pacers: 3 Storylines to Watch and How to Live Stream the Game

Updated: 6:34 p.m. 

The Sixers (29-16) will make their second trip to Bankers Life Fieldhouse this season to take on the Indiana Pacers (29-14), who currently hold the best record in the NBA since Dec. 1. 

Here are the essentials for tonight's matchup:

• When: 7 p.m. ET with Sixers Pregame Live at 6:30 p.m.
• Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse
• Broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia
• Live stream: NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com and the NBC Sports MyTeams app

And here are three storylines to watch: 

Indiana's defense

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The Pacers are one of the top defensive teams in the NBA this season, allowing the fewest points at home (97.0), with opponents shooting just 41.9 percent at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. On top of that, their 9.2 steals per game are third in the NBA and their 16.5 turnovers forced are fourth. The only part of their defense that's not elite is defending the three (they allow 32.1 attempts per game), so a key to tonight's game will be finding a way to keep that three-point shooting rolling like the Sixers did the other night against Minnesota.

Jo Jo threes

If it's felt like Joel Embiid has been knocking down more threes, that's because he certainly has. Over his past nine games (since Christmas), Embiid is shooting 44.1 percent from three, a huge increase from 27.6 percent over his first 33 games. Brown said in a perfect world, the Sixers would want Embiid to play inside more, but that's just not the reality of the NBA, or the reality of their team when Ben Simmons also has the freedom to play inside. Brown has been really happy with Embiid's commitment to shooting better from the perimeter and attributes it to a better balance he's been able to find.

Wilson Chandler at the wing

Expect to see Brown continue to experiment more with Chandler at the three, like we saw against Minnesota. Brown said he thinks Chandler seems to get more involved on the wing and that the Sixers are a better rebounding team with him at that position. The tough part is, play calls at the three and four are very different from each other, so that will be a learning process for Chandler as he interchanges between the two positions.

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