With only three wins in the last ten games, the Indiana Pacers are under considerable pressure to bounce back in order to avoid falling further behind in the playoff race. However, the Pacers are about to face a tough challenge when they meet the Boston Celtics at TD Banknorth Garden on Wednesday at 0:30 a.m. GMT.

Without any doubts, the Boston Celtics could not have wished for a better start into the season as they rallied to an impressive 20-4 record and lead the Eastern Conference ahead of the Orlando Magic and the Atlanta Hawks. Most importantly, the team around Paul Pierce played exceptionally well at the defensive end of the floor and made their opponents work hard for every basket. In fact, the Celtics held opposing teams to just 91 points per contest while scoring over a hundred themselves. Especially third-year guard Rajon Rondo improved by leaps and bounds, putting up no less than 12.0 points, 9.5 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 2.5 steals.

In contrast, the Pacers continue being plagued by injuries and posted an unsatisfying 9-14 record to start the season. Albeit Indiana played fairly well in the opening weeks, they slowed down considerably and quietly fell to the tenth place in the Eastern Conference. To make things even worse, franchise cornerstone Danny Granger suffered a foot injury last week and will remain sidelined until early February. Given the fact that Granger averages 24.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists, it appears to be questionable whether the Pacers will be able to compensate his loss. Therefore, the Celtics will enter their match-up with Indiana as undisputed favorites to come away with another home win on Wednesday night. Not only does Boston have more individual talent on board, but they can also rely on the experience of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to exploit mistakes of the young Pacers’ team.

You can watch all games of the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers right here on www.watchlivenba.com, the home of NBA live streaming.