Indiana Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin could be a hot commodity in the trade market, but it won’t come cheap. Dan

The Indiana Pacers are a topic of conversation in the Feb. 6 trade deadline discourse. As the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and only one loss back from rising a spot, perhaps a trade could bolster their chances to earn first-round home-court advantage in the playoffs.

Since the Detroit Pistons picked up a major win in an NBA Play-In matchup against the Indiana Pacers in November, the Pacers have approached their following battles against the Pistons with a little more motivation.

The Pacers got another win in the record books against the rival Pistons on Wednesday, with Myles Turner getting a last laugh of his own.

Although the Pacers soundly beat the Pistons, they showed some physicality in the second quarter. Pistons center Isaiah Stewart committed a flagrant two-foul on Pacers backup center Thomas Bryant, earning the envelope-pushing role player a rejection.

BOTTOM LINE: Detroit faces Indiana in Eastern Conference action Wednesday. The Pacers are 5-4 against the rest of their division. Indiana is 11-8 against opponents with a winning record. The Pistons are 1-7 against opponents from the Central Division. Detroit gives up 113.0 points to opponents and has been outscored by 1.2 points per game.

Quietly the Indiana Pacers sit in fifth place in the Eastern Conference. After a split in Paris in two games with the Spurs over the weekend, Indiana takes the court against a competitive Pistons’ team. That said, Detroit takes the court having lost their last two games. Monday they lost to the Cavaliers, 110-91.

The friction between the Pacers and Pistons mostly comes from their rise out of rebuilds, but both sides said lines were crossed Wednesday.

Pacers forward Pascal Siakam scored 37 points against the Pistons to make his case for a third trip to an NBA All-Star Game.

The San Antonio Spurs play the Indiana Pacers in Paris. The teams match up Saturday for the first time this season.