The Indiana Pacers travel to Salt Lake City to face the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena on Monday.

The Pacers (28-15) pulled off a road win against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday in their most recent game, overcoming a double-digit deficit in that impressive victory. That actually marked Indiana's fifth-straight win in total, showing just how dangerous this team can be. Getting Victor Oladipo back in 10 days is huge too and his All-Star presence will obviously be a huge boost in the second half of the season. The question is, will he hurt the beautiful comradery that this team has built. Players like Domantas Sabonis and Malcolm Brogdon have flourished in their expanded roles and the last thing they want to do is mess with that. In any case, this team won't compete for a title unless they have those two continue their play while getting stellar production from Oladipo.

The Jazz (29-13) come into this matchup winning 13 of their last 14 games. That winning streak has moved them up to fourth in the west, only half a game behind the Los Angeles Clippers in second. That's crazy with Utah barely sitting over .500 a month into the season and many would argue that this is the most dangerous team in the west outside of Los Angeles. Getting Mike Conley back from a hamstring issue in their most recent win only adds to the intrigue, as he's proven to be one of the best point guards in the NBA over the last decade. If they can get him to end his early-season woes and provide the stellar Memphis play that we have become accustomed to with Conley, this team could make some serious noise from here on out.

Indiana won the first matchup between these teams, 121-102, on November 27. That marked the Pacers third-straight win over the Jazz in total and their fifth win in their last six meetings.