The Washington Wizards play host to the Indiana Pacers at Capital One Arena on Saturday.

The Pacers (39-20) have been one of the surprises of the NBA, as they've climbed all the way up to third in the Eastern Conference. What makes that even more impressive is the fact that Indiana is playing without their best player, as Victor Oladipo continues to recover from knee surgery. He won't be back this season and that shows just how special this team has been without him. What makes them so good is their defense, as they sit first in points allowed. Players like Myles Turner and Thaddeus Young have gotten them to this point and they'll need to continue their stellar play if they want this Cinderella story to continue. Indiana comes into this game hot too, winning seven of their last eight games. A comeback win on Friday emphasizes just how good this team is feeling, as the Pacers overcame a 20-point deficit to defeat the New Orleans Pelicans by a double-digit margin.

The Wizards (24-35) have been a huge disappointment this season, as they look highly unlikely to reach the postseason at this point. Washington comes into this matchup losing eight of their last 11 games, as they now sit four games back of the eight-seed in the east. That might be too big of a deficit to make up, especially when you consider the fact that this club ranks 29th in total defense. What makes this disappointing season even sadder is the fact that the Wizards are getting career years from Bradley Beal and Tomas Satoransky. That very well may be the backcourt of the future, as John Wall may miss all of next season after tearing his Achilles less than a month ago.

This marks the fourth and final meeting between these teams, with Indiana prevailing in two of three. In fact, the home team has won all three of these meetings thus far.